Want Take Have: Book 2 SiTSWAY
by Eve Random
Summary: I'm the Slayer. My girlfriend is a vampire. Did I mention Slayers kill vampires? Probably vampires aren't too fond of Slayers either… Part 2 of So I'm the Slayer Who Are You (Brittana x BtVS crossover)
1. Chapter 1

**Want Take Have**: Book 2 So I'm the Slayer, Who Are You

_I'm the Slayer. My girlfriend is a vampire. Did I mention Slayers kill vampires? Probably vampires aren't too fond of Slayers either…_

Brittana x Buffy the Vampire Slayer Rated M for violence and some smexy times…Snixx is coming…

**_A/N: Be warned, this is a little like the turn from BtVS S1 to S2...little darker...also, if you were counting on your BtVS knowledge to tell you what's gonna happen next...guess what...jumping the track...big time...hope you like it._**

* * *

**Chapter One **

**Part One**

The blonde pulled shut the bathroom door behind her and her long legs stepped unsteadily into the shower. She placed her forehead against the cold tile wall and her fingers moved to twist on the water. A short blast of cold was quickly followed by warm then hot water; the room slowly filled with heat and steam. She let the water rush over her, her blue eyes closed wearily. Before she realized what was happening, hot tears and hot water ran down her face. She heard herself sob and clamped her hand over her mouth shooting a look at the bathroom door. Squeezing her eyes and her mouth shut, she felt her body shake as she attempted to hold back the emotions that had balled themselves tightly, tumultuously, in the pit of her stomach.

There was a small puff of cool air from behind her as the shower door opened and closed. The blonde turned her head and opened her mouth to speak, "S-"

Her words were swallowed by the shorter woman's kiss. The taste of salt caused the brunette to stop, searching the taller woman's face. "It's okay. She's fine." She watched as the blue eyes filled with tears again.

"But what if-," the blonde replied, frowning.

In answer, the brunette stood on her tiptoes and kissed the blonde again. Her fingers tangled and pulled the blonde's fine hair, as if insisting she stay with her here in this moment and not the past or what-if futures. She gently kissed her top lip, her bottom lip, and then pressed with both her lips, deepening the kiss and brushing her tongue against the taller woman's mouth. She pressed forward, both her tongue and her body, stepping between the blonde's long legs.

The blonde whimpered, opening her mouth to the faintly sweet taste of wine on the tongue that grazed the roof of her mouth, causing her to shudder. The kiss, at first deliberate, reassuring, slowly built in tempo until the two of them struggled to pull steamy air into their lungs. The blonde's fingers pressed firmly into the muscled back and ass of the brunette. Her mouth fell open, breath ragged, as the brunette simultaneously raised the blonde's leg, wrapping it around her waist, and hungrily tasted the pale skin of her neck.

The brunette's fingers held back the blonde hair, affording her lips, teeth and tongue better play on the taller woman's neck. Her lips trailed downward, slowly, languishing over each new territory lovingly. The blonde's head rolled back suddenly, knocking against the tile behind her as the brunette's lips attached themselves to her breast. She pulled the brunette into her with the leg around her waist and her eyes fluttered closed. "Shelby," she sighed.

* * *

Holly lay propped on pillows in her bed, watching Shelby pile thick wet hair atop her head and secure it with an overtaxed clip. She looked down at her own hands, still red and raw from scrubbing. Her stomach reeled at the flashed vision of Brittany's blood dripping from these same hands only hours before. Although her hands had been rock steady aiming at Santana's heart with her crossbow; although there was no hesitation in acting on her rudimentary first aid knowledge and pressing her hands into Brittany's wounded flesh until they arrived, desperate, at the emergency room; at this moment, clenching her hands into tight fists didn't stop the trembling. She shook her head, trying to dislodge the sights and sounds of the emergency room and the unnatural pallor of Brittany's skin that had made her fear the worst.

_Waiting for word from the doctors, Holly had paced. She'd paced and replayed every moment where she could have and should have been able to prevent this. Every time the image of Brittany's broken bloodied body flashed before her eyes she shook it off and made a new promise, to whom she was unsure, to make this right if Brittany could just not die._

_When the doctors let them know Brittany was going to recover, instead of relief, Holly felt numb. Tina, Sam, Artie and even Shelby had all sighed and cheered. Holly was ashamed to admit to herself now that her first thought was to contact The Watcher Council. She'd snuck away in search of the sole payphone in the hospital lobby; her hands shaking as she mechanically made her call. Holly half listened as an impeccably unamused London accent droned on about standard operating procedure and assured her a Council-approved doctor would be dispatched and that Brittany would soon be back on patrol. Back on patrol. The words echoed in Holly's head. Brittany had nearly, if not certainly, died and yet she'd soon be back on patrol._

Now, Holly's eyes fell on the brimming overnight bag sitting on the floor at Shelby's feet.

Shelby turned and smiled. "I'm running to the grocery store. Do you need me to pick up anything for here?"

Holly stared at her intently but didn't answer. Shelby cocked her head to the side and crawled across the bed on all fours to sit on Holly's lap.

"Hello, in there?"

"I was just thinking…" Holly answered, studying Shelby's face.

"About…groceries? Or…about Brittany?"

"Both," Holly said pulling Shelby closer to her, their foreheads touching.

"She's going to be okay. Whatever we thought happened…she's going to be okay. We can go by the hospital this afternoon if you want," Shelby offered, tucking a strand of Holly's blonde hair behind her ear. Holly nodded her head and smiled weakly. "So, what are you thinking about groceries?"

"Groceries are too complicated. We buy groceries for here and groceries for your place…" Holly rubbed the strings of Shelby's fleece hoodie between her fingers. "What if we just buy groceries for here?" Holly asked, meeting Shelby's eyes with her own.

Shelby frowned, "If we just buy groceries for here, what will we…"She paused smiling. "If you're asking me what I think you're asking me, you're going to have to put on your big girl panties and ask outright." Shelby sat back on her heels smiling at Holly.

Holly blushed and took Shelby's hands in hers. "Move in with me. Today, right now."

Shelby smiled, pushing Holly back against the headboard as she leaned forward, kissing her. Holly felt the knot in her chest loosen once more and she breathed in as much of Shelby as she could. Shelby pulled away and bounced off the bed.

"Was that an answer?" Holly called as Shelby headed towards the door of the bedroom and down the stairs.

"I'm thinking!" Shelby called back halfway down the stairs.

Holly frowned as she heard the door close and the click of the lock sliding into place. A car door shut and the subdued sound of an engine turning over drifted up from the street through the open balcony of Holly's bedroom. Holly frowned down at her hands. She hadn't been sure what she was expecting. She thought she could understand the argument behind 'yes' or 'no' equally well. Living with a Watcher in the town sitting atop an active Hellmouth wasn't exactly a romantic comedy.

The phone rang on the nightstand and Holly glared at it sideways. After three rings, the new digital answering machine Shelby had coerced Holly into buying clicked on. Holly's voice on the message sounded conspiratorial: _Holla, this is Holly...if this is important, don't leave a message here...thanks..._

There was was a pause. "YES! YES! YES! I'll move in with you! On the Hellmouth! On a volcano in Hawaii! On a mountaintop overlooking the Swiss Alps! Yes!YES!"

Holly's eyes welled as she listened to Shelby shouting from the speaker of the machine. She beamed as she wiped away still more tears. With the faintest breath, she whispered "Thank you."

* * *

**Part Two**

"I could've just kept the hospital issued cane, you know," Brittany said as her mom helped her up the porch steps.

"Are you kidding? That dreary grey thing?" Emma replied, taking a breath on the top step before reaching for the house keys in her pocket. "I decorated that myself just for you. It's festive!" Emma said beaming at Brittany.

Brittany smiled back weakly looking at the red and white striped cane. "If you consider the Pimp of Candyland festive…" Brittany muttered under her breath.

Emma unlocked the door and turned around to face Brittany with a big smile on her face. "Ready?"

"Oh no!" Brittany shook her head, "Tell me you didn't plan a homecoming-"

"SURPRISE!" Streamers and party noisemakers sounded before Brittany could finish her sentence.

Brittany stepped into the hallway and was pelted with confetti from a beaming Sam. Tina leaned in and blew another blast on the party horn in Brittany's ear causing her to flinch. Shelby waved awkwardly from the stairs. Lord Tubbington glared at them all from the top of the stairs and stalked away.

As they stepped into the living room, Brittany saw Artie rolling out from behind a scaled down DJ set-up, the volume turned down so low you could barely hear the music. The room was filled with lavender, pink and baby blue balloons and a large banner across the fireplace that said 'Welcome Home Brittany' in rainbow striped letters.

"You shouldn't have…" Brittany said to herself.

"Are you surprised?!" Emma asked.

"Doesn't it show?" Brittany said a half-hearted smile playing on her face as she limped to the sofa.

"Are the other kids from school coming or…" Emma asked looking at Tina and Sam who tried as subtly as possible to shake their heads 'no'. "Ms. Holliday?" Emma asked expectantly looking at Shelby.

"She's…had some…pressing work…things come up," Shelby frowned as she struggled through the excuse. Brittany frowned looking down at her cane, propped next to her on the couch.

"Pressing library issues?" Tina grinned trying to break the tension, "I thought Gutenberg had pretty much handled all that in the 1400s." Seeing the blank expressions on the faces looking at her, she muttered under her breath, "Do you people even try?"

Artie reached out and stroked her back, whispering "Typography isn't everyone's kink, babe."

"Mom!" Brittany exclaimed from the couch, "what's that smell?"

"The…oh, I may have overdone it a bit with the cleaning…I was worried," Emma replied sitting next to Brittany on the couch.

"My eyes are watering, can we open a window?" Brittany asked, wiping away a tear with her sleeve.

"You get used to it after an hour or two, it's like getting a fresh set of pine-lemony lungs," Artie quipped.

"Without all the hassle of a pesky transplant," Tina joined as Artie moved to open the window behind Brittany.

"Actually, I think it's helping me kick my Sharpie addiction," Sam said, snorting as he open a window on the other side of the couch.

"So, Brittany," Shelby began, "how are you feeling?"

"Icky still," Brittany shrugged.

"Ick is one the leading side effects of a demon attack…I read up on it …WebMD. It's the worst," Artie said, rolling to in front of the couch. Tina sat beside Brittany rubbing her back.

"Holly said a doctor will be out to visit you," Shelby replied, "I'm sure he'll have some…suggestions for dealing with…ick."

"Oh, I don't think our insurance covers home visits," Emma said frowning and rearranging the carrots and celery on the untouched platter on the coffee table.

"Well, she said the…uh…school…pays for a few visits for its best students…" Shelby began. Everyone turned to look at her frowning. "Well… the…most promising students…" Still more frowns. "I…think she…pulled a few strings so they'd look in on Brittany," Shelby finished looking down at her hands.

"Thanks, Ms. Corcoran," Brittany shrugged and smiled. "Guys? I hate to be the sole supplier of poop for the party, but…I'm really kinda tired…"

"Okay," Ms. Pierce said, looking worriedly at her daughter. "I guess we don't want to overdo it the first day back. Let's get you up to bed. Tina? Would you mind?" Tina nodded enthusiastically.

"I'll help," Sam said jumping up from the couch.

Artie and Shelby, murmured their well wishes, and good nights and began helping Emma put away the party food and Artie's DJ equipment.

* * *

"Sorry to ruin the fun…" Brittany began as she was tucked into her bed.

"My fun wasn't ruined. It was Brittany's World! Party time! Excellent! Schwing!" Sam mimed with a broad grin on his face.

"It was a good time," Tina said smiling weakly. "The time was of the good."

"I just really wanted to get in my own bed and just…" Brittany shrugged, "just…do nothing."

"I can bring your books from school and the homework assignments you missed tomorrow," Tina offered.

"The complete un-ynonym of do nothing…" Brittany sighed.

"You don't want to fall too far behind," Sam said.

"I don't? I was actually hoping to fall completely and un-catch-uppably behind," Brittany replied.

Tina's eyes widened. "I'd never let that happen to you!"

"I'm reexamining our friendship as you speak, O' Great Geek," said Brittany.

"Knock! Knock!" Emma said as she stuck her head into Brittany's bedroom, a tray with a sandwich and a glass of juice on it. "Thought some of your favorite anti-ick food might help."

"Crunchy peanut butter and extra jelly, no crust?" Brittany said genuinely smiling this time.

"And juice- two parts OJ…" Emma started.

"One part grapefruit juice," Brittany sighed. "Gimme!"

"Well, we'll leave you to your PBJ&J," Tina stood and kissed Brittany on the forehead. Sam punched Brittany in the arm. He frowned and mouthed 'ouch', shaking his hand vigorously.

"Bye guys, thanks," Brittany said attentively nibbling on her sandwich as Tina and Sam exited.

"Brittany, now may not be the time to talk about it, but…"

"Mom, can we…save it…for the morning…I'm really beat…punage intended," Brittany said, pushing the tray away to the other side of her bed.

"Morning then," Emma said, retrieving the tray and pausing on her way out of the room to turn off the light. "Sleep tight, Brittany. I'm so glad to have you safe at home."

"Me too," Brittany murmured, turning away from the door and pulling the covers up over herself as Emma gently closed the door behind herself.

"One Spice Girl, two Spice Girls, three Spice Girls, four Spice Girls…" Brittany counted before she threw the covers off, jumped out of bed and bounded to her closet without the slightest indication of a limp. She rummaged around on the floor of the closet before tossing two large wooden stakes and a battle axe onto her bed. She then slid open the top drawer of her dresser pushing aside scarves to retrieve the large silver cross Santana had given her. As she fixed the clasp around her neck she heard a hiss and small clatter outside her window.

Instinctively she reached for the stake on her bed and stalked slowly to the window before yanking back the curtain. Lord Tubbington stood in the open window staring at her.

"Tubbs! Where have you been?" She scooped him up in her arms and leaned slightly out of the window looking both ways before pulling it shut. "You reek of catnip and you're high as Rihanna at 4:23." Brittany walked back to her bed, chastising Tubbington as she pulled the covers up and over both of them; the wooden stakes positioned within reach.

Outside the window, hugging the wood shingled siding of the house, Santana leaned forward, crouching to see through a gap in the curtains. "God, I hate cats," she muttered.

* * *

**Part Three**

Quinn Fabray tucked a boxing glove under her left arm and ran her fingers through her chin length pink hair. She sighed as she reached into the bag sitting at the foot of the gymnasium bleachers with her now free but still heavily taped up hand. In the middle of the night, with only a single construction site flood light to illuminate a patch of the parquet gym floor, the contents of her gym bag were cast in shadow and she had to feel her way around.

"You said you wanted water" Holly said, bouncing on her toes back into the blue-white light and knocking her two boxing gloved hands against each other.

"I said I wanted a break," Quinn answered over her shoulder. She stood up straight and paused a moment before turning back around to face Holly, a cigarette dangling from her lips. "I'm ready now," she mumbled as shoved her hand back into her glove, the cigarette between her lips dancing. When she stepped back into the light Holly dropped her hands and sighed in disbelief at the site of the cigarette.

"Are you kidding me?" Holly exclaimed. "What the hell?"

Quinn stepped towards Holly, her eyebrow raised in bewilderment. "What? Did I singe my hair again?" Quinn made a futile attempt to examine the ends of her hair with her boxing glove clad hands.

"The cigarette, Quinn!" Holly said raising her voice slightly. "You're smoking during a sparring session."

"Oh," Quinn laughed lightly, "I won't blow smoke in your face or nothing. I'll play fair."

"Put the cigarette out."

"I'm not done yet," Quinn replied.

"This is a school, you can't smoke in here," Holly replied incredulously.

"I ain't enrolled," Quinn shot back.

"You're taking years off your life with each one of those you smoke," Holly replied sternly.

"Way I hear it, there's not exactly a waitlist to get into the Slayer Retirement Home. Hellmouth or ciggie, either way…"

"Quinn! Put the cigarette out!" Holly snapped.

Quinn shrugged and then smiled, "Make me."

"What?"

"Make me. Knock it out of my mouth." Quinn said her mouth stretching into a grin around the cigarette. "You make me, you win. You can't make me, I win,"

"You're serious?" Holly said, taking a step forward.

Quinn opened her arms wide and exclaimed, "I'm lying, I'm flying." She blew a near perfect smoke ring out of the side of her mouth.

Holly stepped forward and landed a solid punch to Quinn's midsection. The cigarette wavered but didn't fall from Quinn's mouth.

Quinn smiled up at the taller woman. "Don't hold back now, Holly," Quinn said winking.

As the words escaped the shorter woman's mouth, Holly stepped forward again and unleashed a barrage of blows aimed alternately at Quinn's head and midsection. At first, Quinn stepped backwards as she defended against the blows but soon found her footing and deflected the blows with minimal effort. Holly landed a hard blow to the chin which succeeded in bending but not breaking the cigarette. Quinn frowned and delivered an uppercut punch to Holly's chin that sent the taller woman staggering backwards towards the floor. Both women rubbed their chins and eyed each other.

Quinn rolled her eyes and stepped forward. "I'll give you this much, you got a freakin' wicked roundhouse," she said as she extended her hand to Holly, still on the floor.

Holly accepted her hand and stood up. She ran the bottom of her tank top across her lip, somewhat surprised to see it stained with blood afterwards. Running her tongue across laceration on the inside of her lip, she glared at Quinn. "And your uppercut isn't too bad either," she admitted. "Let's go again. This time keep your left up."

Quinn sighed, "Can I finish my cigarette first?"

* * *

**Part Four**

"See?" Rachel Berry said twirling around, her arms open and a large grin plastered on her face, "Things are looking up!"

Kurt and Sugar stepped tentatively into the room and looked around at what appeared to be an enormous empty concrete box with columns spaced periodically throughout.

"What is this place?" said Sugar, touching the walls.

"Poured concrete floors and walls?" Kurt shrieked. "It's an eco-conscious hipster's wet dream! We can use silk dividers…Oh! Or beaded curtains! Oh my god! Bamboo! I can't wait! What's my budget?"

"Raaachel," Sugar purred, smiling and walking over to Rachel who was leaning against one of the large rectangular pillars spaced throughout the room, "did you have this place built for us? It's a beautiful canvas for Kurt to work his magics on…." They both watched as Kurt marched pacing off measurements and mumbling to himself.

Rachel stood up straight and brushed a bit of light colored dirt off her black sweater, restoring the matching perfection of paired mini-skirt and mini-boots. "No, I did not have this place built for us. On the surface, it would appear to be an abandoned underground parking garage, but in reality, it is just one more example of the change of luck that has befallen us now that The Slayer is gone. Sunnydale is about to be our oyster."

"She means she wants to…shuck it?" Kurt whispered to Sugar as he walked heel toe past her. Sugar chuckled.

"I see your mood is much improved," Rachel said raising an eyebrow at Kurt.

"Being cooped up in that mausoleum wasn't good for any of us," Kurt replied.

"I feel so much more stable now," Sugar exclaimed as she spun in circles around the room.

Kurt stood behind Rachel and again lowered his voice to a whisper, "I'm glad she feels more stable, because she looks about as stable as a skateboard on greased marbles."

"I heeeeaaaar you Kurt Hummel. Don't make me switch the labels on your expensive face cream and your expensive foot cream again…" Sugar said as she waltzed away.

Kurt sneered and turned back to Rachel. "Excellent score, it's the perfect hideout. No skylights, I'm assuming…what's the next part of the plan?"

Rachel's white teeth gleamed beneath the fluorescent lighting. "I have been reading and there are evils still left in the belly of the Hellmouth even Sunnydale has not seen before. Evil so frightening to man that it was scattered to the four corners of the earth for fear of what it could do. We," Rachel said reaching out to put her arms around Kurt and Sugar, "are going to introduce Sunnydale to Acathala and watch him turn the world upside down."

* * *

**Part Five**

Shelby pulled a bottle of carmenere from the shelf, smiling as she thought about surprising Holly with fresh pasta for putanesca, garlic bread, cassata cake for dessert, and now, a great bottle of red wine to top it all off. As Shelby handed her credit card and the bottle of wine to the clerk, her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. Shelby glanced at the caller ID and grabbed both the bottle of wine and receipt before stepping outside the wineshop to answer the phone.

"Hi, Uncle Enyo," Shelby said as she placed the bottle of wine in the passenger's seat and pulled the car door shut behind her.

"Simza," a voice croaked on the other end of the line, "you haven't called in a month."

"There...there hasn't been anything to report. I'm keeping an eye on Santana, she-"

"Santana? Snixx. It's name is Snixx. Tell me you haven't been taken in by the human face of that monster!"

"I haven't- I just..." Shelby started.

"You were honored to carry out a sacred mission; to ensure that Snixx suffers for all known eternity for what she has done to our people. I can't imagine what you'd find important enough to make you forget what that animal has done!"

"I know, Uncle," Shelby said, pressing her head against the back of her seat and pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Don't start believing you're Shelby Corcoran of Sunnydale. You are Simza Kaldardash of the Romani people. The Romani blood runs in your veins. The same Romani blood that Snixx made flood through the streets of our village."

"Yes, Uncle," Shelby sighed. She glanced at the groceries she'd bought for dinner sitting in the backseat of her car.

"Snixx tried to wipe your entire bloodline from the face of the earth, for the sake of amusement..."

"Uncle!" Shelby interrupted, "I know. I know the things San- Snixx has done. I'm watching her. She still suffers. The vampire with a soul still walks the earth bearing the curse, suffering the pain of every person she ever harmed."

"And if she ever stops suffering for even one moment..." Uncle Enyo continued.

"She won't stop suffering," Shelby replied.

"Good. Good, Simza." The voice on the other line paused as if speaking to someone else in the room. "Your Aunt Lyuba misses you. She wishes you'd come visit more..."

"I- I- will soon. I promise."

"Dza devlesa"

"Dza devlesa. God go with you, too," Shelby repeated as she hung up.

* * *

**Part Six**

"So then I'm thinking: stay and fight two vamps with nothing but my bare ass and a towel or use the towel to zip line outta there and give the folks in Harvard Square a freebie," Quinn said loudly as she, Tina, Sam, Artie, and Holly noisily entered the library.

"You chose to fight, right? Naked?" Sam said grinning broadly.

"Hangin' and swingin'!" Quinn replied. "I'm here to tell ya a wet towel snap smarts the undead just the same as the living."

"But that didn't kill them did it?" Artie asked.

"Maybe just the sight of her naked," Sam whispered. "I'd burst into flames…"

"Nah, I busted up the bedframe and did them old school," Quinn answered. "And the funny thing is after all that I realized I had no money to pay for the room so I ziplined outta there anyway."

"Naked?" Sam and Artie asked at the same time.

Quinn laughed and walked into the book cage on the far wall of the library to start putting away the weapons they'd taken on patrol. Artie rolled to the table in the center of the room next to a seated Sam, while Tina and Ms. Holliday leaned against the high checkout counter.

"I wonder if Brittany has any naked slaying stories," Sam said. Tina nodded at Artie and Artie landed a blow to the back of Sam's head.

"You wonder if I have naked what?" All heads turned towards the office doorway as Brittany stepped out holding her cane and rubbing her neck.

"Brittany!" Tina exclaimed looking nervous. She walked quickly to stand next to Brittany. Sam and Artie both waved and smiled.

"Hi guys," Brittany said smiling.

"What are you doing here?" Holly said.

"Fine and you?" Brittany said frowning back at Holly.

"Sorry, how are you?" Holly cast a look at Quinn who was kneeling with her back towards them in the book cage.

"I'm good. I thought I'd come by and borrow a book," Brittany fumbled. Everyone frowned. "What? I like to tempt fate with papercuts every once in a while just like the rest of you."

At that moment, Quinn turned and walked out of the book cage. "Oh, Sam, you'll like this one. This one time I was down to my skivvies and up to my shoulders in this thick disgusting…"

"Who are you?" Brittany said blinking at Quinn.

"Who are you?" Quinn said laughing.

"I asked you first," Brittany replied.

"So we're playing by grade school rules?" Quinn said taking a step forward, her expression blank. The room was quiet. After a beat, Quinn grinned. "Ah! I gotcha! Of course I know who you are! You're Brittany Pierce." Quinn strode forward and bear hugged a startled Brittany. Quinn let go of Brittany and hopped up on the table in the center of the room.

"Okaaaay. So we've established who I am, but your nametag still says 'Hello, I'm'," Brittany said looking at Tina, Holly and lastly Quinn.

"Oh," Quinn said sitting up straight, "I just assumed Holly…"

"Holly?" Brittany asked incredulously looking at Holly. "How long does it take to get on a first name basis?"

"Brittany," Holly said taking a step towards Brittany. "This is Quinn Fabray. She's-"

"She's a Slayer just like you, Britt," Sam jumped in. "She went out on patrol with us. You should've seen her. And she's got wild stories to tell…the one with you and the skivvies sounds interesting…"

"She went on patrol?" Brittany said, looking at Tina who nodded meekly. "And you went, Hollz?"

"Oh! You should've seen Holly," Quinn answered. "Those vamps never knew what hit 'em." Holly smiled sheepishly.

Brittany's mouth moved but no words came out. She looked again to Tina and then Holly before limping back into the office. Tina moved to follow her but Holly placed a hand on her shoulder. "This is my fault," Holly said quietly and then entered the office behind Brittany.

"So," Quinn said, "there was this one other time I found myself in the all together fighting vamps…"

"It's surprising yet intriguing how often that happens," Artie said as he and Sam leaned in to listen.

"I find clothes kinda restricting, you know?" Quinn said.

"Do you feel restricted now?" Sam asked. "I mean, we'd be bad hosts if our guests weren't comfortable…"

Tina inched backwards towards the office slowly until her ear touched the door.

* * *

"I didn't realize there was a return policy on Slayers. You don't like your slightly damaged Malibu Slayer and you can trade her in on brand new pink Punk Slayer at no extra cost. You could've waited for the ink to dry," Brittany said as she paced back and forth across the small office with her cane.

"What ink?" Holly asked, confused.

"The point," Brittany snapped, "is that you didn't even have the courtesy to tell me you'd replaced me?"

"Brittany," Holly said rubbing her forehead and taking a deep breath, "She's not a replacement."

"Then what is she doing here? If I knew being 'The One' meant of Two, I would've tagged out of the ring a long time ago, Hollz."

"You are The One," Holly answered.

"So who is she?"

"She was also The One, for a brief moment," Holly said looking at Brittany intently.

Brittany frowned and looked out the office window at Quinn standing on the table and gesturing wildly as Sam and Artie looked up at her cheering and clapping.

"I don't…" Brittany began.

"You died, Brittany," Holly said slowly. "We didn't get to you fast enough and…we lost you…apparently long enough for the next Slayer to be called…Quinn."

"I died?"

"Apparently." Holly turned away from Brittany to turn on the electric kettle on her desk. "This is unprecedented- there's never been two Slayers-"

"Alive at the same time," Brittany interrupted.

Holly looked down at her hands. "Y-yes."

"I guess the other Slayers had the courtesy to stay dead, huh?" Brittany said, sitting down on the couch.

"Brittany, that's not what-" Holly began.

"So what happens now?"

"Council is trying to decide."

"I see. So no loyalty at all. I die a little and now…Quinn. So she's the new and improved. The reason you couldn't come to my homecoming."

"I'm sorry about that. I needed to get her up to speed…"Holly started weakly.

"It's okay. Your first Slayer did the ultimate facepalm. Best to just start over," Brittany said as she brushed past Holly to walk back out into the library.

"Brittany?" Tina asked, perplexed by how difficult it was to catch up to Brittany who was limping quickly towards the library door.

"Hey, B? Wanna grab a brew or something? When do we head out? I'm ready!"Quinn called out to Brittany.

Brittany paused to look back at Quinn. "My leg's not healed yet," she said before pushing her way out of the library door.

"Brittany!" Tina called. "Wait!"

Brittany slowed and turned to face Tina so abruptly they collided. Despite the cane, Brittany caught Tina and herself preventing them from tumbling to the floor.

"Thanks, you…seem pretty agile for a chick with a cane," Tina said, straightening her corduroy jumper.

"I was feeling better…but now I kind feel…why didn't you tell me?" Brittany asked.

"Well, we all thought finding out you died was kinda major and maybe we should wait until you were feeling 100% or 150% before we-"

"Told me I'd been replaced," Brittany offered.

"No way! There's only one Brittany 'Sunnydale Slayer' Pierce!" Tina punched Brittany's arm and winced. "Ms. Holliday is taking it really hard."

"She's taking it hard? I died and then walk in on you all partying it up with Miss Pink and Improved!"

"It's not like that. I think Ms. Holliday blames herself for what happened and is being extra hardcore about Quinn," Tina offered.

"So now she has her perfect and willing student?" asked Brittany.

"It's not like that Brittany. We all wish we could've prevented what happened. Besides, Quinn really idolizes you. She's been asking tons of questions about you."

"She is?"

"Yeah, maybe you should come back in and meet her. Talk to her," Tina said smiling.

"No. I'm kinda tired and I don't wanna be the drama queen who cries 'wolf' you know?"

"Yeah, okay. Well, maybe tomorrow I can come by?" Tina asked, leaning in for a hug.

"Yeah," Brittany smiled as she hugged the shorter girl. "That would be great."

"Okay, I'll be there with bells on. Or maybe not bells, I know Lord Tubbington hates bells…" said Tina. The girls waved and started walking in opposite directions.

"Oh, Tina," Brittany stopped and turned back. "I really was looking for a book. I just got overwhelmed in there…there were just so many books...I took a nap instead."

"The overachiever's motto," Tina rubbed Brittany's shoulder sympathetically. "Which book were you looking for?"

"The one about Snixx. Do you think you could get it for me?"

"Sure," Tina smiled. "Always glad to support your literary excursions."

"Thanks, Tina. See you tomorrow?"

"You know it, Slayer," Tina moved to punch Brittany in the arm again but stopped short.

* * *

**Part Seven**

Kurt paused making tick marks along the wall of the parking structure that he, Rachel and Sugar now called home. The cement floors had tape of various colors running in all directions, a testament to Kurt's intention to transform it into the sort of metropolitan studio apartment of which both the living and the dead would be envious. He glanced over at the pink lined square that encompassed Sugar's claimed room. She had on earphones and was dancing and singing along tunelessly to whichever equally tuneless human boy band had recently made her squeal the loudest. He smiled.

In the farthest corner of the parking lot, a small dark shadow made erratic movements as it seemed to tread a small patch of the concrete floor. Kurt frowned as he approached. As he got closer, the shuffle-click of Rachel's heels on the floor became distinct. At the end of every dozen steps, Rachel's trademark calf length duster trailed out behind her as the result of an abrupt change in direction.

"I come to you to propose a venture that will change the course of history on this planet forever," Rachel mumbled to herself as she paced. "The name Acathala has struck fear in humans since before recorded time. Only once have humans united for any single purpose- the banishment of Acathala. They feared him so much that they dismembered and mutilated him into seven pieces, scattered to the four points of the compass for fear he-"

Kurt coughed, disturbing Rachel's trance-like recitation. She glared at him.

"What?" Rachel demanded.

"Just…scattering seven body parts to the four corners of the compass…" Kurt shrugged.

"Well what would you say?" Rachel said, looking up at Kurt.

"Maybe 'the edges of the seven seas'?" Kurt offered.

"Perfect!" Rachel exclaimed grinning broadly and looking upwards as if reading the corrected text in her head.

"I know you're nervous about this meeting with The Master," Kurt said putting his arm around Rachel, who bristled at first but relaxed more as he spoke. "But try to relax. It's a fantastic proposal. Who could resist turning the world upside down so that dark rules the day and the day walkers are the ones banished underground?"

"It is a brilliant plan," Rachel said grinning. "And if I can convince The Master to lend me some of his minions to gather the seven pieces of Acthala, quickly, before a new Slayer arrives to mettle…"

"We'll be living the high life," Kurt smiled.

"Exactly. The mansions on hilltops will be ours and the crypts and dungeons and-"

"Abandoned parking structures…" Kurt added.

"I thought you liked it here?" Rachel asked, looking slightly hurt.

"Oh, I…I do…it's just…spray tan and fluorescent lighting wears quickly…"

Rachel sighed, "You get used to it, Kurt. But the longing to roam unhindered never dies." They both paused wistfully. "But, if The Master agrees, all that will change and once again, hell will reclaim its rightful reign of the surface."

A standard issue business phone rang quietly a few feet away from them. Rachel jumped and clasped Kurt's hands. Kurt grinned at her encouragingly, pushed her gently towards the phone and gestured 'thumbs up'. Rachel winked, cleared her throat and picked up the phone. Kurt turned on his heels to pick up where he'd left off measuring the room. Over his shoulder he heard Rachel's voice.

"Master, first, please let me say I am greatly honored that you have found the time in what I imagine is an immensely busy schedule to-" Rachel paused. "Am I…am I on speakerphone?"

* * *

**Part Eight**

"Good night, Mom," Brittany said as she took a few steps down the hallway before remembering she wasn't using her cane. She smirked, rationalizing that her mother's door was closed and that no one could see her. She placed the cane on the back of her neck and draped her arms over it on either side of her. She exaggerated her stride, leaning purposefully side to side as she walked down the hallway towards her room. Brittany took a step into her room, wincing as her arms and the cane banged into the doorsill. She chuckled to herself and instead of putting the cane down, turned sideways and crab walked into her room.

Throwing her cane in the corner behind the door, she leaned against her dresser, squinting as she pulled at her face in the mirror. An almost imperceptible noise tickled her ears. Using the mirror to see behind her, she quickly located Lord Tubbington curled in a ball on one of the pillows on her bed. Her eyes settled on the open window. Taking a deep breath, she smiled and approached the window.

"I guess I need to thug it out a little more if vampires think I'm Melissa Etheridge now," Brittany said aloud.

"Think you're who?" said Santana, taking a graceful step directly in front of the window and kneeling on the roof.

"Don't you like 90s music?" Brittany asked, smiling despite herself at Santana.

"1890s or 1990s?" Santana answered.

"Ugh, you had to remind me of that!" Brittany exclaimed, pulling a chair from the corner of her room and plopping down into it. "Exactly how old are you?"

"To be honest," said Santana, "I lost track after my bicentennial."

"Oh, I can relate. The whole world changes when you realize you're attracted to the football players _and_ the cheerleaders," Brittany chuckled.

"Bri-," Santana began.

"Why did you do it?" Brittany asked, her face transformed to deadly seriousness.

"Sleep with girls?" Santana asked unsure of where the conversation was going.

"Help," Brittany asked, staring at Santana. "Why did you try and help me? Save my mom?" Brittany asked.

"Don't you know the answer to that?" Santana said looking down at her hands.

"I really don't," Brittany replied. "You're a vampire. I'm the Slayer. It's like Topanga dating Lance Bass. It looks really hot but…it's not going to work out."

"I didn't have a choice did I?"

"Didn't you? I'm sure you're not going to win your bid for homecoming vamp now, turning your back on your friends- Rachel, Kurt and the one who loves animal prints."

"I couldn't stand there and not help you. You think I wanted to be the vampire who fell in love with a Slayer?"

"In love?"

"I don't know what else to call it, Brittany. When I see you, when I'm near you, it's not that cute feeling of butterflies in your stomach, it's the whole damn zoo exploding in there," said Santana.

Brittany held Santana's gaze for a moment and then they both broke into laughter.

"Sorry," Santana said. "Leather pants always make me kinda broody and emo." Santana pulled at the black leather hugging her thigh.

Brittany shrugged. "It's okay, now that Vampires Diaries is on hiatus, I don't get my vampire angst fix so easy."

Santana chuckled and stood up, turning to go.

"But I know what you mean. Zoopalooza inside. That's how I feel, too," Brittany said, standing up and leaning into the window sill.

"So what do we do about it?" Santana said squatting again in front of the window, her face inches from Brittany's.

"Just go with it…" Brittany said, closing her eyes and leaning forward a little, her lips upturned to Santana. After pause and not feeling Santana's lips against her own she opened her eyes blushing. "Okaaaaay, I know I'm sometimes not good with subtle but that was about as blatant an invitation as you're likely to get…"

"Brittany," Santana said, as she tapped her finger on an invisible barrier in Brittany's window sill. "I can't come in. Any part of me. Unless you invite me."

Brittany moved her hand directly opposite Santana's as if she could feel the barrier to the vampire's entry with her own hands.

"Oh," Brittany said, blushing an even darker shade of red. "I'm not ready to-"

"It's okay," Santana said, standing to leave once more. "I just wanted to talk to you, and…I did" Without turning to look behind her, Santana jumped gracefully off the roof landing quietly on the grass below. She waved her fingers in goodbye.

"Maybe, next time,"Brittany whispered.

"So there's going to be a next time?" Santana stage whispered.

"If you keep wearing those leather pants, there will be," Brittany smirked to herself as she enjoyed watching Santana walk away.

* * *

**Part Nine**

Tina lit another candle on her nightstand so she could better read the handwritten text in the decaying leather bound book on her lap. She squinted, running her finger down a list of ingredients and nodding her head after looking at the corresponding components arranged around her on her bed. A bucket of ice sat between her legs.

"I think that's everything I need. Now to just pronounce it all correctly and I'll change these pesky ice cubes into fire," Tina said aloud as she picked up the neatly printed index cards and began to read over them. She was careful not to say the words out loud until she was ready.

* * *

The doorbell to the Cohen-Chang house rang and Ms. Cohen answered the door, a cellphone pressed to her ear.

"Yes?," she said to the blonde cheerleader with a ponytail and a neckbrace. She placed a hand over the phone as she paused her conversation.

"Hi, I'm Celeste. Is-" the girl began.

"Tina's upstairs. Second door on the right. Close the door behind you please," Ms. Cohen said returning to her conversation and walking away.

Celeste looked up the staircase and then back for any sign of Ms. Cohen. Finding none, she shrugged and climbed the stairs. Pausing outside the door, Celeste noticed light flickering from inside and what sounded like Tina's voice. She knocked once softly and then turned the knob to enter.

"Kio estis varma malvarma. Kio estis la fajro glacio. Kio estis tio estinteco..."

"Tina?" Celeste asked.

"Celeste" Tina said and held up a hand before she continued, "estis fromaĝo manĝanto knabino!" Tina exclaimed. "Wait, I don't think-," Tina gasped and shielded her eyes to the flash of light and puff of smoke that suddenly engulfed the room. She flapped her arms in front of her trying to wave away the smoke and was saddened to see the ice bucket still sitting full of ice between her legs.

"Well, something happened. You don't get flames and smoke when you whiffle the spell," Tina chuckled looking back towards the door where Celeste had been standing.

"Celeste?" Tina said looking around her room. She climbed off the bed and walked towards the door. She stopped when her foot kicked a pile of clothes laying on the floor between her bed and the door. Tina leaned down to look at the clothes but a sudden movement within the pile made her scream and jump backwards onto her bed.

Breathing hard, Tina grabbed a ruler from the edge of her desk and hanging onto her headboard with one arm, reached towards the pile of clothes with the ruler. Grabbing a corner of what was definitely a cheerleader uniform, Tina flicked the garment backwards and screamed when a large black rat disentangled itself from the clothes and stood upright on its hind limbs.

Tina's eyes widened. "Celeste?!"

* * *

**_A/N: thank you for being patient...hope it'll be worth the wait. Let me hear from you._**

**_Big thank you to my beta Ms. Atomic for always finding the time and always pretending to be amused._ **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**Part One**

"So that makes the Boston University Bridge the only place in the world where a boat can sail under a train passing under a car driving under an airplane," Quinn said as she and Holly entered the library.

"I love that you have your Boston history down or any history for that matter…" Holly replied. "It's so hard to get kids around here to take an interest in anything besides their phones and their hair." Holly reached out her hand to take the duffel bag of wooden stakes, crossbows, and spears from Quinn, but the pink haired girl instead removed the heavy bag from Holly's shoulder and proceeded to carry both bags into the book cage.

"Well, I just love history. And Boston you can't spit without hitting something historic," said Quinn. "I miss it. There's no place like Boston anywhere- the Emerald Necklace, Cabbage Night, a good Saturday night game of ghouls…" Quinn sighed.

"Cabbage Night?" Holly said, leaning back against the library counter and rubbing at a sore shoulder.

"Quinn turned around to face Holly smiling. "Yeah! It's the greatest thing. The night before Halloween you run around and throw cabbage or eggs or whatever rotten stuff you have lying around…soap up windows…ring and run…you know…"

Holly frowned. "Let's keep that Boston tradition in Boston."

Quinn chuckled, "Yeah, Sunnydale ain't ready for the full Boston treatment. No way. But you know, I have a book about Boston history I could lend you…I mean you probably don't have this one…my mom bought it for me…it's got everything you'd ever need to know about Boston in it…"

Holly smiled. "I'd like that, Quinn."

Quinn smiled and shrugged before turning back to unloading the weapons. "So how was I out there tonight? I mean…four vamps in a night…how many could B ice in a night?"

Holly shook her head. "I have no idea. She didn't really revel in it quite-"

"So I may have bested the Piercester? Niiice," Quinn said.

"Quinn," Holly said, "I hope you're not making a competition of this…"

"No, I just figured I'm the new Slayer and I should try and-"

"You're not the new Slayer. You're another Slayer."

Quinn looked down at her hands and frowned as Holly turned her back and walked into her office. "Well, yeah, that's what I meant…I'm just another Slayer…"

* * *

**Part Two **

Brittany paced back and forth in front of her bed as Tina finished reading the passage from the book.

"So, what does that mean, exactly?" Brittany asked.

"I don't know yet, it's pretty cryptic," Tina said.

"Wow, see Tubbs? Even wise prophecy dudes fall for that gang stuff," Brittany said to Lord Tubbington who looked back at her unmoved. Brittany contorted her fingers into a 'W'. "Westside." Tubbington jumped off the bed and left the room.

"These guys could learn a thing or two from whomever writes fortune cookies," Tina said scratching her head and frowning.

"Oh! Prophecies inside little cookies! I'll take a dozen!" Brittany continued her pacing.

Tina glanced at Brittany and then at her cane in the corner of the room. Turning back to the book in her lap, she read slowly, "'The Dark shall find the light of a soul'… The Dark, I'm pretty sure is Santana…" Tina looked up and saw Brittany eyeing her. "I mean Snixx…"

Brittany continued her pacing. "So she has a soul? Like that means she can't be evil?"

"Well, she's still a vampire…" said Tina.

"True," Brittany said, sitting in the window seat and double checking that the window was closed tightly. She'd hoped Santana would get the hint that tonight wasn't a good night for a visit.

"But maybe she's like a hooker with a heart of gold…only she's a vampire with a human soul?" Tina offered.

"Great, Julia Roberts wants to drink my blood…which…she is kinda MILF-y…" Brittany said. "I thought having a soul is what makes you good?"

"I think it makes you alive, not good. Principal Menkins has a soul and he's still evil." Tina said and Brittany nodded in agreement.

"I guess I just need a reason. A reason she saved my mom. Why she tried to help me. Why she maybe saved me…"

"You think she saved you?" Tina said dropping the book and scooting to the edge of the bed closest the window.

"Well, Hollz said you guys didn't make it to me in time…and the docs said I was definitely dead…who else could have?"

"The doctors did say it was miraculous…" Tina said putting the book down. "That's kind of romantic…like Rose and Jack…if Rose wasn't all stingy and shared her raft."

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" Brittany said smiling. "So speaking of romance…how are you and Artie?"

Tina grinned and blushed. "Things are going…"

"What's it like kissing a robot?" Brittany said as she jumped on the bed next to Tina. "Does he eat electricity or memory chips? Does his…joystick…vibrate?"

"Does his…You know he's a person, right?" Tina answered, blushing violently. "A human person in a wheelchair…it's not any different than a Slayer who uses a cane…" Tina and Brittany both looked at the cane. Brittany reached over and grabbed the cane, laying it next to her on the bed. "You don't need the cane do you?"

"Not for walking so much…but for moral support…" Brittany shrugged blushing.

"If you're not ready to go back out on patrol, it's okay to say that, you know?" Tina said putting an arm around Brittany. "And it's okay to be scared, I mean you bit the big one last time. I think we all get it."

"Hollz doesn't get it. She just ordered herself a new fearless Slayer who doesn't get scared."

"Ever heard of Dr. Who?" Tina asked.

"Dr Huh?"

"Dr. Who. In Planet of the Daleks, the Doctor and three of the Thal crew discover an inactive Dalek on the planet Spiridon…"

"Ancient Babylonian is not less clear than what you just said to me," Brittany replied.

"The point is, the Doctor says 'Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway.'"

"Yeah, well, I got the scared part dzown…" said Brittany.

"Yeah, but I know you. You also have the courage part down, too. How many people would have tried to spare their friends and take on a warehouse full of vampires and demons on their own?"

"Hit the rewind on the remote, Tina, that didn't turn out so well," Brittany said sighing.

"Yeah, that won't be remembered as your wisest plan…," Tina said.

"Thanks much! I thought this was a pep talk? Tubs gives much better 'keep on purring' talks than you…" said Brittany.

"What I'm trying to say is that I don't know anyone who would have jumped into the middle of that warehouse but you. You're all heart and you're all courage, Brittany. It's okay if there's some scared in there, too. You'd be crazy not to be scared."

Brittany smiled and leaned in to hug Tina.

"Civilian! Civilian! Ribs! Ribs!" Tina exclaimed before Brittany loosened her embrace chuckling.

* * *

**Part Three**

"Just to be sure, " Holly said, looking down at her clipboard, "one last test of coordination before you're fully cleared to go back out."

"Lay it on me, Hollz," Brittany replied.

"It's a hard one, I've got to blindfold you," Holly said emerging from the office with a large white bandana in her hands. As she did, Tina, Artie, and Sam filed into the library.

"Guys, Brittany and I may need a moment to conduct our-" Holly began.

"It's okay with me," Brittany shrugged waving at them. They all waved back.

"It's like we've stepped onto Dagobah and Brittany's Luke and Ms. Holliday is Yoda," said Sam. They all looked at him. "Anakin and Ahsoka? Danielson and Miyagi? Po and Shifu? Neo and Morpehus? Gordon and the Mighty Ducks?! People! Look up from your books sometime. Mark my words, you're gonna wake up one day and realize all you have left of your childhood is...your… book…learnings… " Sam said sitting down on the steps leading to the shelves of the library.

"Anyway," said Holly. " I don't want you to be upset if you don't get it the first time. The success rate for this particular test is very low, Brittany," Holly warned.

"I mean, you all saw me die. Failing a test is the molehill next to that mountain."

"Okay, please just step back towards the door and remain silent," Holly said to Tina, Artie, and Sam. She approached Brittany and tied the bandana around her head.

"Is there a drawer for handcuffs here, too? 'Cos…wanky…" Brittany quipped. Brittany felt Holly take her hand and lead her to the center of the library.

"I'm going to hand you a ball and then spin you around several times. Count to five and try to throw me the ball. Don't feel bad if you don't get it the first time. We'll keep-"

"Less talky, more spinny," Brittany interrupted. Holly placed a large red playground ball in Brittany's hand and grasped her shoulders, turning her in circles, Brittany exclaimed, "The tilt-a-wheel at the fairgrounds beats this hands down for vom potential, but for customer service you have it all over the creepy carnie."

Holly ignored her and stepped away as quietly as she could to a position directly behind Brittany. Standing at the door, Tina crossed her fingers and grinned.

Brittany counted aloud, "… Fast and the Furious four… Fast and the Furious five!" Brittany stopped spinning with her back towards Holly and facing the door of the office. Brittany tossed the ball back and forth between her hands as if weighing it and then without pausing, threw the ball hard in the direction of the office, opposite of where Holly was standing.

Holly sighed and began, "Better luck next-" when the ball bounced off the wall and hit her squarely in the forehead with a loud smack. Holly stumbled backwards into the library cage.

Tina, Artie, and Sam rushed to congratulate Brittany, as she pulled the blindfold off.

"Did I pass?" Brittany said, smirking. She and Tina barely contained their giggles. Sam and Artie moved to help Ms. Holliday to a chair.

"Well, hey, B. Look who decided to re-up," called Quinn's voice from the door.

All heads turned to see the now blonde Slayer enter the library.

"Two blonde slayers, be still my achy wanky-" said Sam.

"Gross!" replied Tina and Brittany in unison.

"What?" Sam said. "I was going to say 'heart'."

"I have to side with the girls on this one, bro," Artie said. "That could have gone in a very different direction."

"Well enjoy the two blonde Slayers in your spank bank while you can. I may go back to pink," Quinn said before walking over to Holly. "Here's that book on Boston I promised you," said Quinn as she handed Holly a book with a battered dustcover hanging on for dear life.

Brittany whispered to Tina, "If she sucked up any more Hollz would be dehydrated." Tina snorted.

"Damn, B, that's a nice outfit," Quinn said taking in Brittany's ballet slipper shoes, black skinny jeans, and ivory colored chamisole. "Even with both of us blonde now, no one is gonna mistake us for one another." Brittany in turn eyed Quinn's matching black leather biker boots and pants, white tank top, and denim jacket. "Are you headed out to dinner or something?"

"No," Brittany said, somewhat self-consciously. "I just passed my last test," said Brittany looking at Holly who was still rubbing her forehead but nodded assent. "I'm back on patrol tonight."

"I finally get to see 'The One' in action," Quinn said smiling and sitting down at the table. "Let's go kebab us some fangers!"

"Ladies," Holly said reaching for a newspaper sitting on the counter. "I'll need you to work together and not split up tonight. Arte, Tina, and Sam, I need you to take a pass on tonight. The Council is worried about a sudden increase in activity all around the globe and as this is the Hellmouth…"

"It could get extra Hell mouth-y. Can I make my triumphant comeback after all this is over? Whatever 'this' is?" Brittany said.

"They must've heard we were coming," said Quinn as she filled two duffle bags with assorted weapons from the book cage. "Let's get some!"

"Yay," Brittany said half-heartedly.

Tina rubbed her shoulder and whispered, "You're ready. You even passed the unpassable test. Remember the Doctor."

"Who?" Brittany asked.

"Exactly. Go get 'em champ!" Tina yelled.

* * *

**Part Four**

"And that's how I found myself in your neck of the 'Dale," Quinn finished as they entered the wooded Victoria Park behind the school on patrol.

"Wow, it seems like only yesterday I was a pretty young thing in Zanotti peep toe pumps, swinging my Chloe tote, at peace with the world," Brittany said wistfully. "Next thing I know, I'm missing the heart on my first vamp. That's the worst, isn't it?" Brittany laughed.

"Wouldn't know, B, I've never missed. Don't intend to," Quinn replied motioning Brittany to follower her deeper into the woods. Twigs along the floor of the woods snapped under their feet. "We should bang a left up here," Quinn said heading towards a small clearing.

"Owww!" yelped Brittany, grabbing her foot and leaning against a tree. "I think that went through my shoe!"

"Seems like you would've learned a thing or two about appropriate footwear last time out," Quinn smirked putting her boot clad foot up on the tree next to Brittany. "Twig proof and insulated," Quinn said.

"That doesn't work with my outfit," Brittany pouted.

"Neither did electricity," Quinn said. "You're religious?" Quinn asked eyeing the large silver cross Brittany wore around her neck. Brittany moved her hand to touch the cross but didn't reply. "Whatever works I guess. I was just never much for religion. Couldn't never get the hang of which day it was okay to do what…hats and gloves and fish on Friday. Plus nuns give me the heebies worse than vamps."

"It was more a gift, from a close friend," Brittany said, still fingering the cross on her neck.

"Close, huh?" Quinn asked, leaning against the tree. "How close? Close enough to give you a good down low tickle?" Quinn elbowed Brittany and chuckled.

"She's pretty close," Brittany said, trying her best to hold back a grin.

"'She'? Damn, B, you're a vagitarian? Rolling in the gay? Would never have figured you for anything but the captain of the football team."

Brittany smiled, but didn't answer.

"Okay, B, I get it. All business? Care to give me the rundown on the head vamps in charge in Sunnydale? Holly told me about Rachel and Sugar, but I heard Tina and Artie talking about another one who tried to get into your head…Snacks?"

"Snixx," Brittany replied reflexively. "And we don't think she's bad anymore. She saved my mother when we were attacked and she may have saved me."

"Whoa!" Quinn said stopping in her tracks. "You 'don't think she's bad anymore'? Is she still a vampire?"

"Well…yeah…but.." Brittany replied.

"I don't know how Holly trained you, but in my book, you stake fangers first and ask if their intentions were honorable second," said Quinn. "Give me 10 minutes with her and they'll be calling her Snacks." They continued walking.

"What if she's good? She helped me."

"One more dead vampire, the way I see it. I wouldn't lose any winks over it," Quinn answered.

Brittany started to reply, but the sound of branches snapping behind them made them both stop and listen. When it became obvious a group was approaching, they silently hid behind a tree. As the group passed, they each peeked out from behind the tree to take a look. When they were sure they were out of earshot, they whispered to each other.

"Ten vamps your count, too?" Quinn asked, slinging the duffel back off her shoulder and unzipping it to retrieve stakes.

"Six vamps, three demons," Brittany answered. "I'll never forget what demons look like or smell like. And I don't know what that one is," Brittany said pointing at the tenth figure in the clearing.

"Awesome, my first night out with The One and I get to bag a demon and a question mark. You're good luck, B," Quinn said smiling and standing up; two stakes in her pockets and a battle axe in her hands. She took a step forward.

Brittany grabbed her arm, stopping her. "Wait! What's the plan?"

"Violence!" Quinn said before running after the group, axe raised above her head.

"So the pink hair was the most subtle thing about her…"Brittany stood up and ran to catch up.

* * *

Brittany and Quinn burst through the library doors both of them had twigs and leaves in their hair. Quinn was missing both a sleeve from her jacket and a boot. Brittany was beaming.

Holly looked up from the table. "How'd it go?"

"Nailed it," Brittany said smiling and bouncing to sit at the table.

Quinn limped over to the book cage and turned the duffle bag upside down letting leaves, branches, a few stakes, and a battle axe crash onto the floor.

"Everything seemed okay?" Holly said, directing her question to Quinn, who looked back over her shoulder, and without replying walked into the book cage to put the weapons away."Just the usual unusual?"

"Well there was one unusual unusual in the bunch," Brittany answered.

"What happened?" Holly asked.

"Well we came across a band of not-so-friendly neighborhood vamps and demons. Long short: foot, fist, foot, fist, stake, stake, axe… or was it stake, axe, stake…I forget…"

"And…"

"There was an extra hairy one. Stake didn't work on him but the axe did so…that's the happs," Brittany shrugged.

Holly smiled and leaned towards Brittany. "How was the noob?"

Brittany leaned in conspiratorially, her eyes on Quinn in the book cage. "Okay. She kept up…mostly… She got a little _too_ into the fist-face-fist-face with one of the demons and a vamp got away, but I'm sure we'll catch him another-" Brittany's eye was caught by something shiny on the floor amongst the things Quinn had dumped out of the duffel bag. "Oh! Shiny!" She stood and retrieved it from the floor, holding it up to the light as Quinn came out of the book cage.

"What's that?" Quinn asked.

"Looks like an old lock with a gingerbread man after Christmas on it," Brittany shrugged and tossed it to Holly.

"What?" said Quinn walking over to the table.

Holly pulled a desk lamp to her and examined it. "She's right actually. It looks like a man cut into…seven pieces."

"Don't act so surprised," Brittany replied. "I'm right sometimes."

"I'll have to consult my books and send a picture to The Watcher Council…I'm not sure what to make of it. Maybe tomorrow we can extend your patrol in the woods and see what else we turn up?" said Holly.

"That's 5 by 5 for me," Quinn said standing up to leave.

"I…feel very 25 about it as well," Brittany said frowning.

As they all headed towards the door, Quinn stopped. "Could someone tell me where I could get a good pizza pie around here?"

"You're going to go out to eat looking like that?" Brittany asked.

"Well, I may not be fit to entertain the Queen but my motel doesn't have room service and I gotta eat," Quinn said.

Holly started to speak but Brittany jumped in first. "Come to my house. Mom always cooks like there's six of us even with just us two. Tubbington is gluten free… so there's bound to be plenty…whatever she fixed… for us all. If you want just some regular old food…"

"Thanks, B," Quinn said smiling.

Holly smiled and rubbed Brittany's shoulder before offering them a ride.

* * *

Brittany and Quinn walked up the steps of the Brittany's house and were surprised to see Tina open the door for them.

"Hi!" Tina said beaming. "I came to drop off those homework assignments you wanted and your mom said I could stay for dinner."

Ms. Pierce stepped into view, wiping her hands on an apron and smiling as they entered.

"Brittany, I'm so proud to see you're taking initiative in your studies. Who's this?"

"Oh," Brittany said, "this is Quinn. She's new."

Quinn, smiled and waved, "Hi, Ms. P. Lovely home you have here. I really like the craftsman architecture."

Emma Pierce smiled. "Where are you from? What brings you to Sunnydale?"

"Oh, I'm a sla-," Quinn.

At the same time Tina and Brittany blurted out explanations.

"She's from Boston!"

"She's a foreign exchange student!"

"She's a foreign exchange student from Boston?" Ms. Pierce said frowning.

"Yeah," Tina offered, "Bean town is a whole 'nother world you know?"

"Well, welcome to Sunnydale," Ms. Pierce said. "Can you stay for dinner? I hope you like pot roast?"

"Oh, so don't I?" Quinn said smiling. Seeing them frowning at her she tried again, "That sounds nice, I love pot roast, Ms. P. Can I help you with anything?" Quinn followed Ms. Pierce into the kitchen as Tina and Brittany hung behind.

"So?" Tina asked, "How'd your first night back on patrol go?"

"Actually, it went really well. Like I felt really good. Better than ever, in fact," Brittany said smiling.

"See?! And Quinn? She's not so bad either, right?"

"She's annoying in a remarkably skilled way, but…she's not as bad as I thought," Brittany answered as they walked towards the kitchen. "Uh, Tina?"

"Yeah?"

"You didn't really bring me homework assignments did you?" Brittany asked pausing outside of earshot of the kitchen and her mother.

"No, just some more prophecy books for us to look at. I figured a few brownie points from the parental unit couldn't hurt though," Tina said winking.

"Good," Brittany said as they walked into the kitchen, "because if you did, I'd unfriend you just as fast as Tubbington could show me how to turn on the computer…"

* * *

**Part Five**

Principal Menkins locked the immense wood double doors that led into Sunndydale High School behind him and stepped into the hallway.

"Calling me out of a beautiful dream where Mayor Sylvester had finally started recognizing all I do for this stinking town. They think corralling their filthy hormone driven adolescent…creatures… is the joy of my life? No! I'd like to see them spend half a day with their own children, they'd hate their grubby germ-ridden guts as much as I do."

As Menkins walked down the hallway he paused in front of the trophy case outside his office.

"How humiliating is it to have the only first place trophies in my case be for performance choir? There's not contact, steroids wouldn't help you, it's coed… it's not a sport in my book." Menkins was distracted by fingerprints on the trophy case and bent over to wipe them away with his sleeve. He didn't see the dark figures that ran across the hallway behind him.

As he pulled the keys to the administrative offices from his pocket he continued his rant. "This freakin' country is going down the crapper I tell ya. And I get a front row seat. So much tweeting and vining and facing and skyping…these kids think they're entitled to be entertained every miserable second of their lives. I tell you what, in my day a kid was happy to have a tree branch to call his own-"

Menkins paused mid-sentence hearing a quiet clicking noise behind him. Over his shoulder he yelled, "Schuester? You were supposed to be finished mopping the floors hours ago. Don't think you're going to stick me with overtime." The clicking became louder and more frequent. Menkins turned around and squinted into the darkness. "Schuester!"

The clicking echoed in the hallways and Menkins, now scared, turned back to the door fumbling with his keys. Dropping the keys on the floor he kneeled to pick them up. As his fingertips felt the keys and the cold linoleum beneath him, he realized that the clicking sound had stopped behind him. He stood slowly.

When he was fully upright, his hand shook as he inserted the key into the lock and put his hand on the doorknob, careful not to turn around. His eyes widened when he felt a stream of hot moist air raise the hair on the back of his neck. His nose protested the foul smell. As slowly as he could, Menkins turned back towards the hallway behind him.

Screams echoed in the hallway for what must have seemed like an eternity, but in reality, was only a few seconds.

* * *

"I still think it's silly for us to drive separate cars to school," Shelby said as she leaned against her car while Holly parked her car in the space next to her.

Holly stepped out of her own car and clicked the remote to lock the doors. "I don't want everyone up in our grill about our personal life," Holly said. "Menkins is deadly against staff hook-ups of any sort. You're new here and I'm still just a substitute-"

"Couldn't we just say we're carpooling?" Shelby said. Looking around in the faculty parking lot, she saw no one was watching and leaned in to steal a kiss from Holly. They both smiled. "I mean, it's not like we're fooling anyone. The kids all know."

"The Scoobies? Well, I'm not worried about them…" Holly answered as she looked at her reflection in the window of her car. She adjusted the dark blonde bouffant wig and dark blue women's business suit, complete with pleated skirt.

"Not just the Scoobies," Shelby said. "All the kids at school know. You do this really awkward over formal thing every time we talk in public and your ears flame bright red."

Holly instinctively reached for her ears, "They do?"

"They do. It's cute though," Shelby said smiling. Without bothering to check the parking lot again she placed a kiss on Holly's nose. "I get that we can't exactly make out in the teacher's lounge, although…bucket list…but I would like to drive in to school with you. I mean between teaching and the Scoobies, we spend most of our time here and…I want every second of your free time I can get."

Holly smiled. Before she leaned forward she pulled something out of her purse and put it in her mouth. "Wanna kiss me now?"

Shelby paused and looked at her up and down. Holly smiled, showing two large front teeth. "Who would I be kissing?"

"Seriously? How about this?" Holly coughed and began speaking in an exaggerated English accent. "Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth…"

"Queen Elizabeth?"

"Shelby?!" Holly said eyes widened.

"Kidding," Shelby replied. "I've never kissed a Prime Minister before, much less an Iron Lady…"

A siren went off at the edge of the parking lot and they both jumped. They turned in time to see a firetruck and ambulance roar into the parking lot. The ambulance drove up onto the grass and backed its rear doors right up to the steps of the front door. Holly and Shelby watched paramedics rush into the school.

"What the hell?" Holly said, spitting the fake teeth back in to a small plastic container. They both rushed towards the front of the building.

As they got closer a large man in a checkered suit stepped in front of them, arms raised to signal them to halt.

"Superintendent Tanaka?" Shelby said.

"Ms Corcoran and…" Mr. Tanaka began, looking Holly's Margaret Thatcher costume up and down.

"Holliday. I'm the substitute librarian and European History teacher today," Holly said smiling broadly.

"Well, I'm glad we're able to give people of your generation a chance to share your decades of wisdom with our youth," Mr. Tanaka said. Holly frowned and Shelby covered a giggle. "But, I'm going to ask you to help me keep the students out of the building until we can get the body out of there."

"The body?" Shelby said, staring at the open doors of the school.

"Wait…what happened?" Holly asked.

Mr. Tanaka leaned in towards them and Holly and Shelby looked at each other and leaned in towards him as well. "It's Principal Menkins. Seems like some crack skinhead graffiti street dancers or something broke in and…well, there's a body…"

Holly and Shelby grimaced.

"Crack skinhead…" Holly repeated.

"Well, we don't know exactly what it was, but they ripped him to shreds. We haven' t even found…all…of him yet." Tanaka said.

"Did he… have puncture wounds on his neck?" Holly asked.

"We…haven't found his neck…" Tanaka replied. Tanaka stood up straight looking over their shoulders. "The kids are starting to arrive. Can you two let the other teachers know, quietly, and get them to head the kids towards the football field or something? We can pretend like it's a surprise pep rally or something…Find me our little champion song bird, Mercedes Jones, and tell her to sing us the National Anthem…the diva version…that ought to buy us at least half an hour."

* * *

Brittany hopped over a low metal bar and ducked under another one to step behind the bleachers. Tina, Artie, Sam, Quinn, and Ms. Holiday were waiting for her.

"Not that I'm not loving getting to skip European History today, but what's the sitch?" Brittany asked sitting on the one of the metal "X" shaped structures between the bleacher pillars.

"Principal Menkins is…" Tina stretched the corner of her mouth and made a face.

"Ugly?" Brittany guessed.

"Dead," Holly said.

"Ugly and dead, that's a bummer combination," said Brittany. "How'd he bite it? Oh, gay shark attack?"

"He was eaten, but not by sharks," Holly said.

"So what do you think it was?" Tina asked.

"Well, I have a theory…" Holly began.

Shelby walked up to the group and put an arm around Holly's waist.

"Are you all gay?" Quinn stage whispered to Tina, Sam, and Artie as Brittany , Shelby and Holly exchanged a few words.

"I'm not gay…not that there's anything wrong with that…" Tina offered, holding Artie's hand.

"Really? Cos I could swear I feel three sets of eyes watching my ass in these pants when I walked up in here," Quinn said. Quinn turned around and shook her leather covered rear at them, smirking.

"Well…it's just that…they're so shiny…I can't help it…it's hard to look away… Artie! Help me look away," Tina said squeezing Artie's hand tighter.

"It's okay, I'm down with letting a little lady love in…especially when she's a tall drink of water like that…" Quinn said looking at Shelby.

Tina, Artie, and Sam shrugged at each other.

"The paramedics are saying it looks like a wild dog attack," said Shelby.

"Wild dogs?" Quinn said, "Not my wheelhouse. Call the dogcatcher. Call me when the vampire demon dogs show up."

"I guess we could protect the innocent little bunnies in the woods," Sam said.

"See," Artie said, "that's where you fall right into the trap they set with their furry furry paws. Bunnies aren't that innocent."

"Yeah, Hollz, I'm missing the big of this particular deal," Brittany said.

"Has anyone stopped to think how wild dogs got into and out of the building unnoticed?" Holly asked. "They checked the school top to bottom this morning and there were no dogs."

"So…you're thinking…" Brittany said.

"Werewolves," Holly said.

"Werewolves?" Brittany, Tina, Artie, and Sam said in unison.

"Werewolves I can work with," Quinn said. "Be nice to get some sun for a change too."

"They're at night too, Quinn," Shelby said.

"Damn," Quinn replied and lit up a cigarette.

"Brittany," Holly said, "is there any chance the unusual unusual you saw last night was a werewolf?"

"It was hairy," Quinn offered.

"Yeah, but it was…feminine…somehow," said Brittany.

"Are there only weremen?" Artie asked.

"Could it have been a hairy something else?" Tina asked.

"Women do reach that lunch lady age where they sprout chin hairs and their voice gets all growly and they hate anyone with a figure," said Brittany.

Holly and Shelby exchanged a look. "And what age is that, Brittany?" Shelby asked.

Brittany shrugged, "Iunno, thirty?" Brittany smiled and swung her legs back and forth, still sitting on the 'X' shaped metal support.

Holly reached over and pushed Brittany over backwards. Brittany gracefully rolled over backwards and sprung back to her feet. "Regardless of whether it turns out to be a werewolf…or the lunch lady…Council wants us to be on high alert. The chatter suggests something's brewing."

"Something more than your average night out on the Hellmouth?" Brittany said, brushing dirt of her rear with both hands.

"Seems so," Holly said. "You guys better get back up to the bleachers with your homerooms. The teachers are keeping track."

"I wanna catch the second half of Mercedes' national anthem," Sam said smiling.

"Why?" Tina asked.

"Because…I…think that…as member of the student…body we should support…other…student bodies…" Sam said stumbling over his words.

"Whatevs," Brittany said shrugging. "Catch you later."

The group nodded and split up to rejoin their perspective groups.

Shelby took a step closer to Holly. "You really think it's a werewolf?"

"It fits the description. There was a full moon last night. A werewolf could have been in the school before it was locked up last night and there when Menkins arrived. It would've been easy enough to exit any of the doors that lock automatically. But no wild dog could do that."

"Maybe we could use some help?" Shelby said.

"Help? We've got two Slayers now. They're working together and I think that makes it pretty even odds."

"Who said it has to be even odds? Can't we stack the deck in our favor a little?"

"What are you trying to say?" said Holly.

"Just, we know firsthand Slayers aren't immortal…"

"And…"

"Maybe we need to think about some unconventional help…" Shelby said.

* * *

**_A/N: Thank you so much for reading (that was an epic first day!). Reviewers, I love hearing from you and you don't know how excited I get when I see a new review has been posted. Thank you!_**

**_Thanks always for the NayaBenelux love & support._**

**_Much love to Ms Atomic for letting me bounce ideas off her at all hours of the day and night..._**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**Part One**

"You used to be better at sneaking up on me," Brittany said as she elbowed a vampire in the stomach and stabbed him in the heart with her stake. She kicked the vampire in front of her in the knee and as he doubled over, she rolled across his back to stake another vampire.

"You didn't used to be able to hear me from half a mile away," Santana said delivering a roundhouse kick to a vampire and then spinning to stake her.

"You weren't that far away," Brittany said turning to face Santana. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear just before a vampire landed a blow to her chin. "Hey! I was talking here!" Brittany grabbed the vampire's arm, flipped him over her shoulder to the ground in front of her and staked him. "Rude!"

"I was, " Santana said, punching a vampire in the face and pointing in the distance, "just on the edge of those trees. You're hearing is…impressive."

"I guess it's all the carrots I've been eating," Brittany replied, feeling the ash of the last vampire she staked land on her arms.

"I thought carrots were for vision?" said Santana, offering her hand to help Brittany rise from her crouched position.

"But you think bunnies don't have kick ass hearing with those big ears?" Brittany said, standing.

Santana chuckled. "I guess you have a point." She looked up at Brittany's big blue eyes and smiled, looking back down at Brittany's hand still in hers. She looked back up at the night sky and sighed. "Sunnydale may be the Hellmouth, but it knows how to pull out all the stops on a starry sky." Santana started picking their way through the cemetery staring up at the sky.

"Being from LA, I guess I never really stopped to think about the stars. It was hard to see them and then they seemed so far away," Brittany shrugged. "I guess I didn't see the point."

"Stars are everything, Brittany. They're history and legend. They're direction. They're our beginning and our end," Santana stopped when she realized Brittany was looking at her instead of up at the sky. "I guess they meant a lot more to people before smartphones and cars and libraries you can hold in your hand."

"Show me," Brittany said, smiling at her.

"Really?" Santana asked. Brittany nodded. "We need to get up a little higher so we can see. How about over there?" Santana said pointing at a mausoleum with a flat roof. "Race me?" Santana started walking towards the mausoleum, but turned, walking backwards to face Brittany. "C'mon."

"Are you serious? You want to race?" Brittany said walking slowly in the same direction as Santana.

"Yeah, let's see what you've got!" Santana said as she turned away from Brittany and progressed from a slow jog to running at a more rapid clip.

Brittany quickly caught up and passed Santana, smirking as she did so. "Don't hold back, granny!" Brittany shouted.

Santana frowned for a moment, assessing how fast she knew she was moving and calculating that even for a Slayer, Brittany was moving incredibly fast. Santana had taken advantage humans' poor hearing more times than she liked to think about. She knew Brittany hearing her over the ridge close to half a mile away was not normal for a human. Santana shook the thoughts from her mind as she saw Brittany climbing the mausoleum ahead. Santana took a running leap off a nearby tombstone and after planting one foot on the wall of the mausoleum, was standing on top.

"I didn't know you knew parkour," Brittany said smiling as she dropped back to the ground and dusted off the dirt she'd gotten on her knees trying to scale the mausoleum.

"I'm not sure I do," Santana answered.

"The way you got up here?"

"We used to call that running and jumping. Is there a new name for it?" Santana said smiling and offering her hand to Brittany.

Brittany chuckled and took Santana's hand. Brittany dipped her chin, looking upwards at Santana and batting her eyes. "Show me the stars the way you see them."

Santana smiled. "Okay. Constellations. Me abuela used to tell me all the stories of the stars. There's millions of stars and probably just as many stories." Santana looked up in the sky and turned, getting her bearings. "What's one you'd like…There. Come look at this one," Santana said keeping her head turned upwards as she held out her hand to Brittany. Brittany took her hand and Santana gently moved her to stand in front of her. When she was behind Brittany she tentatively put one arm around Brittany's waist, resting her fingertips lightly on Brittany's hip. Her other hand she placed gently on Brittany's elbow, pushing her arm forward to extend it and then gliding her fingers along Brittany's forearm, raising goosebumps as she went, until she held Brittany's hand in her own.

"Is this okay?"Brittany didn't answer; she leaned back until she felt Santana's body against hers and squeezed Santana's hand in affirmation. She closed her eyes, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips as Santana's soft low voice tickled the patch of skin behind her ear. "There," Santana said tracing Brittany's fingers along a path of stars in the northern sky, "that's Coma Berenices. There was a beautiful Egyptian Queen Berenice II with long golden hair, they say she had the most beautiful hair that anyone had ever seen. Some people even said it was actually gold. It was Berenice's pride and joy. She spared no expense for the finest oils from far away lands, the softest brushes, and hand crafted combs to adorn and protect her hair."

"Diva much?" Brittany replied. Santana chuckled.

"Well there was one thing Queen Berenice loved more than her hair. She was very very much in love with her husband, King Ptolemy. But the king's sister had been murdered and the king was bent on getting revenge. He rounded up an army and went after the man who murdered his sister. Well the queen was distraught over the very idea that anything should happen to him. So she prayed to Venus, the goddess of love, to protect her husband." Santana felt Brittany turn her head slightly to look at her while she spoke. "Venus had the power to protect the king, but as goddess sometimes do, they wanted something in return. Venus was used to being considered the most perfect and beautiful female to ever exist and she was jealous of Berenice's gold hair. Venus offered to protect Ptolemy if Berenice would sacrifice her hair."

"Oh snap, like Britney or Jessie J..."

"But Queen Berenice didn't have to think about it for even a second. She promised Venus that if the King returned home safely, she'd happily cut every hair from her head. She'd do anything for the one she loved."

"Is there a catch?" asked Brittany.

"No. Venus played it straight. The king returned home with not even a scratch and Queen Berenice gladly cut off all her hair. The king was very upset about this and he demanded Zeus punish Venus for what she'd done. But Zeus told the king that Venus had made a fair deal with Berenice and since the king had returned home safely, there was nothing Zeus could do. King Ptolemey was furious and vowed to destroy all the temples in his kingdom dedicated to Venus. When Zeus heard this, he made a secret compromise with Venus. Venus placed Berenice's hair in the night sky. It would be tended to by servants of the gods, and admired by everyone in the world, not just in Egypt, until the end of time," Santana whispered in Brittany's ear. "So there, is her hair, a symbol of her love for her husband, preserved for all time," Santana said, tracing the constellation with Brittany's finger in the sky.

"I like that," Brittany replied, smiling faintly.

"I've had time to remember every story abuela taught me." Brittany turned completely around to see Santana's face. Santana turned away from smiling up at the stars to look at Brittany."I guess you can't really appreciate the light until you experience the dark."

Staring into Santana's warm brown eyes, Brittany tried to read what she was feeling in this moment. She leaned forward, pressing her lips against Santana's. Her ears flushed red as every nerve ending in her body jumped to attention; suddenly aware, like never before, of every sound, taste, and texture in this kiss. And this kiss felt like a brand new kiss, but it was familiar, too; like a first kiss after being away too long. This was the kind of kiss you felt just as much in your chest as on your lips. She felt an electric surge growing, trembling, in her chest. Her heart and lungs competed for space in her chest and Brittany struggled to catch her breath, pausing for only a fraction of a second before reclaiming Santana's lips. The muscles in Santana's arms tensed as she dropped her hands to the small of Brittany's back and pulled her closer. Brittany's hands moved to touch Santana's face and she marveled at the feel of Santana's jaw moving, kissing her, under the velvet tan of her cool skin.

At first, Brittany thought she'd imagined it. But when she heard her name called a second and third time and the sound of car tires moving slowly over the gravel road that ran through the cemetery, she was sure. The car drew nearer and Brittany's eyes shot open. They were standing on the roof of the highest mausoleum in the cemetery and Shelby was looking for her. Without any explanation, Brittany pulled away from Santana and shoved her hard backwards, pushing her over the edge of the mausoleum roof. Santana yelped.

"Shhhh! Also sorry!" Brittany whispered over the edge of the roof. Brittany turned back towards the approaching car and hoped that in the awkwardness of having to both drive and sweep the cemetery with her binoculars looking for Brittany, Shelby hadn't seen them. When she saw the light reflect off the binocular glass and the car pick up speed in her direction, Brittany waved.

"Brittany!" Shelby said. She leaned out of the window after the car came to a stop and looked up at Brittany.

"Hey, Ms. Corcoran!" Brittany hoped that her ears weren't as glowingly red as they felt. She considered jumping off the roof of the mausoleum, and was quite sure she could do it without injury, but decided to climb down instead.

"How was it tonight?" Shelby asked as Brittany approached the car.

"If I didn't know better I'd think it was Christmas…silent was the night," Brittany said.

"Good. Holly is checking on Quinn over at Gaiman Cemetery. She said if it's quiet here you should give it half an hour more and then head home for some rest."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Brittany replied. She heard a noise from Santana behind her and coughed hoping Shelby hadn't heard as well.

"You sure you're okay? You don't need anything?" Shelby asked pulling out her binoculars and sweeping the cemetery behind Brittany.

"I could use a rethink on my current occupation and the answers to tomorrow's European History test…and a Scared Straight Program that would actually work with Lord Tubbington…but other than that…"

Shelby chuckled and shook her head. "Good night, Brittany. Be safe and good luck studying for the exam." Shelby eased the car into gear and slowly nosed the car forward.

"Catch you tomorrow at school. 'Night!" Brittany called out as she waved at the car. Waiting a few seconds more, she turned and darted around the other side of the mausoleum to find Santana leaning against the mausoleum wall.

"Sorry! Are you okay?"

"No thanks to you!"

"Well you landed on your feet, didn't you?" Brittany asked.

"That's cats, Brittany, I'm a vampire," Santana replied.

"Funny, Tubbs says it's vampires…"

"But I landed on my feet anyway and almost broke a heel," Santana whined, pointing at her black leather boots. "What is with you people trying to ruin my boots?"

"Sorry," Brittany offered again.

"So I guess this…us…we're a secret?" Santana said.

Brittany shrugged taking a step forward. "Just the last time you and the Scoobes saw each other-"

"They tried to kill me. Yeah, I remember," said Santana.

"Yeah," Brittany said shrugging. "I just think this…us…our…relationship," Brittany paused gauge Santana's reaction to the word, "is kinda going to take some getting used to for them. I mean a Slayer and a vampire make oil and water look like Angelica Pickles and Cynthia…" Santana frowned. "Tight…" Brittany grabbed her hand and pulled her closer until they were practically nose to nose. "I just want them to get to know you and see that you're special…among all other vampires… and to me."

Santana smiled begrudgingly. Then frowned again. "You didn't have to shove me off the roof. You could have just said 'get down'."

"Sorry!" Brittany said grinning. "I don't know my own strength lately. Besides, maybe it's better if we take things a little slower. It's been a crazy couple of days. I mean, I just found out you were a vampire last week… and then I was technically dead…"

"That doesn't bother me. We can go as slow as you want," Santana said leaning in to kiss Brittany again.

After a small kiss, Brittany leaned back. "Wait, you wouldn't mind if I was dead?"

"Well, I'm dead," Santana said.

"I thought you were undead?"

"I thought that was zombies."

"Oh! Okay, maybe you're right. Tubbs reads so many YA novels and fanfiction it's all a blur. I can't keep track," Brittany replied. She kissed Santana again, the flutter in her chest responding to the contact with Santana's lips. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure," Santana said.

"Are you a virgin?" Brittany asked.

"What? No."

"So you've…you know…" Brittany said.

"Brittany you're more than 200 years too late to claim that prize. I'm not a virgin," Santana said smiling.

"So you've….since…like with dead…" Brittany stumbled.

"No! God, no! Not with dead bodies!" Santana said.

"No, I meant with other undead…dead…you know, vampires," Brittany said.

"Brittany, all of that, anybody that might have had any importance to me at all, was a really really long time ago. If you want to know about it, I'll tell you but…"

"Okay, I'm just asking," Brittany said. "Just you know what they say, sleeping with someone is like sleeping with everyone they've ever slept with and like 200 years… and everybody's got a random…"

* * *

Shelby hoped that the sound of the idling car wasn't loud enough for Santana to hear. Carefully and as silently as she could, she maneuvered on foot behind a bush. Pulling out her binoculars, she focused them on the white mausoleum on the hill where she'd spoken to Brittany. As she slid the image into focus, she found Brittany's distinctly yellow-blonde hair. Moving the binoculars only slightly, the face of Santana Lopez came into view.

"Snixx," Shelby whispered to herself before creeping back as quietly as she could into the car and driving away. At the first stoplight, she reached for her phone and pulled up Uncle Enyo's phone number.

* * *

**Part Two**

"Raaaaacheeeeeel!" Sugar screamed, the sound echoing in their partially furnished home.

Rachel's smile melted as she turned away from the four wooden crates arranged on the floor.

"Sugar, just restart the router! You'll get your Pretty Little whatever show back in just a minute."

"Racheeeeeel!" Sugar screamed again.

Kurt stepped from behind a bamboo divider in black silk pajamas, a black velvet sleep mask pushed up onto his forehead, "What the devil is going on out here? I boy needs his beauty sleep, you just can't start screaming at 6PM! That's not okay!"

Sugar stood directly opposite Kurt's room and opened her mouth the screech again.

"Sugar! Stop!" Rachel shouted. "I am right here. What is it?"

"There are two now! There are two now! The one was gone is back and a new one for our troubles!" Sugar said rubbing her temples. The orange and white bow on her hairband moved as she rubbed.

"What?" Kurt said, joining them as they walked towards a large slightly worn red velvet couch covered with Sugar's crocheted pillow projects bearing stitched pictures of bleeding hearts, tombstones, black cats, and zebras. "What are you even talking about? Who's gone? Who's back?"

Rachel sat down on the couch next to Sugar and rubbed her back through her giraffe skin patterned pajamas. "Did you have a vision? What did you see, Sugar?"

"I see two mettlesome, troublesome, burdensome, bothersome, ugsome, Slayers trying to ruin our fun," Sugar said, she pouted and placed her head on Rachel's shoulder.

"Sugar? You woke me up screaming about Slayers? She's dead, Sugar!" Kurt said. He turned to walk back into his room but thought better and added, "And wasn't she _The Chosen One_, Sugar? ONE?"

Rachel frowned at Kurt and hugged Sugar closer to her. "Two Slayers, love?" Rachel said, petting Sugar's head. "You know I always trust what you see, but there cannot be two Slayers." Rachel shook her head as she continued, "That is just imposs-"

"There are two Slayers now!" Sugar, Kurt, and Rachel turned towards the entrance to the garage and saw three vampires. The largest of the bunch spoke again. "I don't know how, but there's two of them. One was on the East side of town and the other was on the West side of town," he said.

"How is this even possible?" Rachel said standing up and starting to pace.

Sugar stuck her tongue out at Kurt who sneered and motioned as if he were trying to grab her tongue in his fist.

"No! No! No!" Rachel said. "This cannot be happening! My plan…I told the Master I had this all under control and that nothing…absolutely nothing could go wrong because I saw the Slayer die with my own eyes!" A black blur slammed the largest vampire against the concrete wall behind him and Rachel stood before him, index finger pressed into his chest. "There can be no mistakes in this matter. Are you sure it was the Slayer? That there are two Slayers?"

"Y-yes, Manhands, I-" Everyone in the room gasped as the words left the vampire's lips. "Rachel! I mean Rachel!"

"Oh!" Sugar squealed, "It's time for a show!"

Kurt leaned towards Sugar and whispered, "Manhands?"

"She absolutely hates that nickname. It boils her blood and bubbles her acids. Snixx named her that and it's a name we don't speak…" They heard an anguished cry followed by a ripping and tearing sound. The large vampire fell to his knees grasping at his neck. Rachel looked in disgust at the bloodied mostly white tube she threw to the floor. "…unless we don't want our throats anymore…" Sugar finished.

The tube skidded to a stop inches from the couch and Kurt pulled his feet underneath him least the chunk of flesh should travel any farther.

"He was poorly dressed, Rachel! You put him out of his misery!" Sugar shouted as she clapped.

Rachel turned to the two other vampires who were still staring at the bloodied piece on the floor. "Which of you would like to continue?" The two vampires shook their head, shoving each other in Rachel's direction.

"Oh! Let me pick!" Sugar squealed, jumping off the couch, stepping gingerly over the flesh on the floor, and approaching Rachel and the two vampires.

"Choose," Rachel said in a low growl.

Sugar eyed both vampires, cocking her head side to side as if she were deciding which outfit to wear for the night. "This one is wearing A&F, a nice outfit… from twelve years ago…but this one has a trucker hat. Kill him, I hate the ironic thing."

Rachel placed a finger on the now trembling vampire's chest. "Tell me."

"W-well, the two of us," the hat wearing vampire began, "we saw a little blonde chick at Gaiman Cemetery and she was taking out demons just like a Slayer, but we left before she could turn on us. We ran into…" he pointed at the vampire whimpering on the floor, "coming from Silver Mound and he said he definitely saw a blonde Slayer there too."

As he finished the words, Rachel pressed her hand into his chest and retrieved his heart. Sugar squealed with delight. Rachel dropped the heart on the floor, stepped over it, and walked towards the crates she had been examining earlier. The vampire with the trucker hat slumped to the floor. The other vampire ran up the stairs and out into the night. The fluorescent lighting reflected off the ornamental carving of a dismembered man on the locks of the crates.

"We have four of the seven pieces. We cannot let the Slayer-"

"_Slayers_" Kurt corrected, wincing at the carnage on the floor in front of him.

"We cannot let anyone stand in the way," Rachel said, placing her hands on two of the boxes before her. "I promised the Master we would put pay to ancient accounts and I will not let a little girl, not even a quarter century old, defeat me."

Sugar and Kurt stood and clapped. "Brava!" Kurt called.

Rachel smiled demurely. "Not too much?"

"The speech, the heart snatching or the de-throating thing?" Kurt asked.

* * *

**Part Three**

Tina pulled a book out of her locker as Brittany continued her story. "So then I was in this jungle or something and there were all these beautiful flowers, like everywhere and there were dancing birds and mice playing maracas and…"

"Did you fall asleep watching Enchanted again?" Tina asked as they walked towards the library.

"I love that movie! 'Lug a hairball from the drain!'" Brittany sang.

"'To the gay refrain!'" Tina joined in.

Together they finished, "'Of a happy work song!'"

"I still can't empty the vacuum without singing that," Brittany said.

"And expecting roaches in there?" said Tina. They both shuddered.

"But yeah, in my dream I was all 'la-da-da-dum-dum' with the birds and the flowers and the musical mice and then I walked into a clearing and…" Brittany looked around and lowered her voice, "Santana was there."

"Oh, is this going to get TVMA with depictions of sex and language unbefitting Princess Giselle?" Tina asked, smiling, as they paused in the hallway.

"Definitely TVMA, but not in the 'I'll watch this by myself in my room' kinda way," said Brittany.

"What happened?"

"Well, at first it looked like she was happy to see me, she smiled and called my name and I started running towards her. But then the sky turned dark and the maraca mice stopped and like a horror movie string section started up…I think there were ducks in the orchestra…which makes no sense because ducks hate horror movies…they're the romcom types…although-"

"Brittany! What happened?" Tina interrupted.

"Sorry. So the music changed and I started running towards her and all the flowers wilted and the next thing I knew I was all Valeryian steel! Waving a sword around. But she didn't move at all. Like she saw the sword and didn't move. I raised it and I was about to hit her with it…hit her hard…"

"And?"

"And I woke up screaming," Brittany said.

"What do you think it means?"

"Hello, Tina! Obvious called and wants it's duh back. I'm going to kill Santana?"

Tina rolled her eyes. "You're not an oracle or anything…it doesn't have to mean anything," Tina said as they started walking again.

"No idea what midget rowers have to do with this, but this dream seemed really really real. Like I could smell the flowers and the maraca band was totally realistic."

"Brittany, but not all your dreams come true. You got me all excited about a French speaking monkey in a romper and that never happened," said Tina.

"True. And I never did get my hair dreaded…or try and choke myself…"

"See? So it's just a dream. Like maybe you have issue with the fact that she's a vampire and you're the Slayer," Tina said.

"Issues? I have a lifetime subscription," Brittany said as they walked through the library doors. Brittany opened her mouth to speak as Tina touched her arm.

"Can I say it?" Tina asked smiling. Brittany nodded her head.

"Hey Hollz, what's the sitch?" Tina said beaming and trotting over to the table to sit next to Artie and Sam. "I've always wanted to say that."

"You knocked it out of the park, babe," Artie replied. "I sensed the passion in your inquiry regarding the sitch." Tina smiled smugly.

Shelby was leaning against the library counter, sipping a cup of tea. She looked up smiling at Brittany. "There was more going on last night that we suspected."

Brittany walked towards the table, setting her backpack on the floor next to a chair and sat down, keeping her eyes on Shelby. "What do you mean? Nothing happened last night. Nothing at all. It was absolutely happenless."

Holly, dressed in a men's suit dabbed with traces of paint, wooden clogs, a short cropped red wig, matching beard, and a large bandage over her left ear, emerged from the library office.

"Oh good, you're here."

"Ron Weasley!" Brittany shouted pointing at Holly.

Holly paused sighing to herself.

"No?" Brittany continued.

"She's not Kyle Brofloski or Phillip J. Fry either," Sam said shrugging.

The library doors opened and Quinn walked in. "Vinnie Van Gogh, cool." Everyone looked at each other and then at Holly.

"Pound, dawg," Holly said extending her fist for Quinn to hit.

Quinn grinned and complied before sitting on the stairs. Seeing that everyone was looking at her. "What? I used to ditch to the Museum of Fine Arts."

Tina leaned across the table to Brittany, "That pucker was of the ascending variety. Get it? Kiss up? I'm getting good with the witty." They both snickered.

"I haven't been able to find anything about the lock you found, Brittany," Holly said, placing the medallion down on the middle of the table.

Sam held it up to the light and shrugged. "Ancient bike lock?" Sam said swatting the lock across the table to Brittany.

Tina pulled her laptop out of her backpack. "If I can get some good pictures of it may I can see if we can flex some crowdsouring on Mechanical Turk or something." The room was quiet. "Just, can I see it for few minutes, please?"

"If you promise not to explain any of what you're doing," Holly replied.

"Can I help?" Brittany asked leaning on Tina's shoulder and looking at the screen. Tina looked at her. "I can hit search just as well as anyone else if you tell me where to go."

Tina smiled, "Finally someone expressing some interest in what I do. Artie, could we borrow your laptop?" Artie reached into the backpack on the rear of wheelchair pulling out a large silver laptop. He opened it, hit the on switch, and slid it in front of Brittany.

"You might want to include some of the Black and White Magik Arts bulletin boards as well," Shelby offered. Tina nodded her head.

As Tina leaned over and set up Artie's computer for Brittany, Brittany looked up at Shelby. "What happened last night?"

Artie rolled away from the table. "Well, it seems we lost the swim team."

"Is that such a bad thing? I don't remember them winning…ever…"said Sam.

"We need to go look for them?" Brittany asked.

"No," Shelby replied. "They were found down at the beach, torn to pieces," Shelby paused looking directly at Brittany. "The quiet last night was deceptive."

"That is the thing Sunnydale High excels at, the student extinction rate; highest in the school district!" Artie raised a hand and Sam high-fived him

Quinn rose from the stairs and approached Holly. "Vampires hanging out at the beach? That's a new one, but I guess this is California…"

"Vampires don't normally take the time to play with their food that way after they've finished," Holly replied.

"Unless they're especially sadistic," Shelby replied, still eyeing Brittany.

"They found bits of fur in the mess and strewn all around," said Holly.

"Rabbits," Artie replied, "I told you, you can't turn your back on them for a second."

"I guess we can't rule them out," Holly acknowledged. "But, the fact that there was another full moon suggests to me-"

"Werewolves," Shelby said. Brittany and Tina looked up from their respective keyboards but then went back to work.

"So what are the big bads tag teaming now? We've got vampires and demons in the mix, we need werewolves, too?" Quinn asked.

"From what I can tell, werewolves have never been a particular problem in Sunnydale. But Council believes we're seeing something like a swarm here."

"Like tweeners backstage at a Beiber concert?" Sam asked.

"Something like that," Holly said as she sat leaned against the edge of the table, scratching her red beard. "In the past, it seems as though before large events, dark events, there's a general increase in activity amongst demons, vampires, etc. We don't know why, but it's like they can feel it coming."

"Or they just have good phone plans," Artie said.

"Or ESPN," added Sam.

"The addition of werewolves to our usual unusual here at the Hellmouth has Council especially concerned. And now… the lock is on my mind and my mind is on the lock."

Tina dramatically hit enter and looked up, "Well the mystery of the gingerbread man lock will be solved soon. I've added us to the query queue… should just be a matter of time," Tina said smiling. "Find anything, Brittany?"

Brittany looked up, grinning and pointing at the screen, "There's this YouTube of a guy trying to sing Mariah Carey songs…"

"I mean related to the lock," Tina corrected.

"Well, um, no. Not yet," Brittany replied.

"The braintrust working for us is great and all that, but in the meantime, just tell me how to kill them," Quinn said.

"That's the thing," Holly said, "outside of silver bullets, we don't know much."

"So we start packing and take them out," Quinn said smiling. "Maybe it's time for slaying to step into the 15th century." All eyes turned to Quinn. "I ditched at the Science Museum sometimes, too."

"Council isn't going to approve guns. But I agree we may need to consider something…unconventional," Holly said, looking at Shelby. "Brittany," Holly started, "can you ask Santana to meet with us tonight?"

The room was quiet until Artie nodded his head and said, "Huh. Didn't see that coming."

* * *

**A/N:** _Thanks for all the kind reviews and the PMs! Love hearing what you think about the story. Sorry for taking so long with the update- life, y'kno? Hopefully back to a more regular schedule soon. _

_Again thanks for reading, favoriting and following! Especially thanks for taking the time to review._

_Thank you, nayabenelux for the idea and the support._

_Thanks Ms Atomic for being a kick ass story partner._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**Part One**

Shelby stood on the balcony of their bedroom looking out on the street below, her cellphone pressed to her ear. For a moment her mind drifted and she could hear Holly, Tina, Artie and Sam talking downstairs. The voice on the line shouted.

"Simza!"

Shelby snapped to attention. "Yes. Yes, Uncle Enyo. I told you. I know who she is. I know what she's done. I know she's evil and we probably can't trust her…"

"Probably?" Uncle Enyo repeated incredulously.

"I know we can't trust her. But I need a way to keep a better eye on her, to know what she's up to. There's so much going on here that, I just thought if she thought we trusted her and were working with her, maybe she'd let her defenses down and I could see how she's connected to all this…" Shelby implored. Half aloud she added, "…if at all."

"Simza, this idea is fraught with treachery. You can invite a wild thing into your home, but you're a fool to close your eyes at a night thinking you can sleep safely."

"Uncle Enyo," Shelby began, "I'm not fooled." In the distance a low rumble grew louder and Shelby turned to see Santana's black muscle car gliding up the street towards the apartment. "I need to go."

"I want to hear from you more often, Simza. This is dangerous ground you tread."

"Yes, Uncle. I'll call again soon. Tell Aunt Lyuba I said hello. Dza devlesa."

"Dza devlesa, Simza."

Shelby hung up and watched as the black Charger pulled to a stop in front of the apartment and both doors swung open. Brittany stepped out of the passenger side of the car dressed in black jeans and floral print sleeveless shirt. From the driver's side, Santana Lopez, dressed in fitted jeans, an orange shirt and a fur vest, walked around the front of the car with a large pink cardboard box balanced in her hand. Santana offered her other arm to Brittany, who smiled and looped her arm under Santana's. They paused and Santana put the box on the roof of the car, reached a hand to touch Brittany's cheek and kissed her. When Santana's hand dropped and she leaned to grab the box again, Brittany turned towards Santana, pulling her into her and kissing her deeply. Shelby sighed, frowning, and turned back into the bedroom.

* * *

Santana paused before the last few steps to Holly's door. "This is one thing I definitely don't miss about being human," Santana said.

"Meeting the besties and Watcher again after they tried to kill you?" Brittany said, snaking her arm around Santana's waist. She kissed her on the cheek. "I know you're doing this for me. I appreciate it. I'll owe you."

"You don't owe me anything, Britt. Nothing," Santana replied.

"Don't decide so fast, you don't know what I was going to give you in exchange," Brittany said, raising her eyebrows up and down. They both laughed. "You said this is one thing you don't miss about being human, what do you miss?"

"Hmm," Santana said, thinking as they stood on the mat outside Holly's door. Brittany raised her hand to press the doorbell and Santana said, "Sunrise and sunset. That's what I miss most." Brittany made an exaggerated pout and momentarily placed her head on Santana's shoulder before pressing the bell.

The bell sounded and Santana glanced over at Brittany. "You're not wearing your cross anymore."

"I think I have an allergy all of a sudden, it got itchy," Brittany replied.

* * *

Coming down the stairs, Shelby heard the doorbell ring. Holly stepped from behind the kitchen counter and looked up at Shelby. Shelby winked at Holly. A smile flickered across Holly's face and she turned, walking quickly to the door. Tina held Artie's hand, looking at the door expectantly, while Quinn and Sam stood near the couch both glowering.

Holly opened the door and tried her best to smile. "Brittany. Sn- Santana."

Brittany looked at Holly and then back at Santana and smiled. Holly stood back and Brittany walked through the door, still holding Santana's hand. When the hand holding Santana's reached the threshold, she was pulled backwards. Brittany looked back at Santana confused. "It's okay," she coaxed.

Santana looked at Holly and then Brittany. "She has to invite me in."

Brittany turned and looked at Holly.

"Holly…" Shelby called from halfway up the stairs.

Holly kept her eyes on Santana, the muscle in her jaw tensing. "I'm debating."

Brittany sighed, "You asked me to invite her. You said we needed her help." She stood in the doorway, still holding Santana's hand.

"I'll do everything I can to help Brittany," Santana said, her eyes not leaving Holly's.

"Tina," Holly said, "show her the lock, please."

"We put it in the book cage, remember?" Tina said looking from Holly to Brittany. "All I have is the video I took."

"Show her that," Holly said.

"Computers need electricity, Holly," Shelby said, looking first at Holly, then Tina.

"But I have a batt-" Tina started.

"The cord won't reach that far, Tina" Shelby said purposefully eyeing Tina as she reached the last step of the stairs.

"Oh," Tina said. Tina looked up at Shelby who nodded slightly, reassuring her.

"She'll have to come in." Shelby placed a hand on Holly's shoulder and waited until Holly turned to look at her. "It'll be okay," Shelby said smiling.

Holly let her hand drop from the door handle and took several steps back. "Come in, Santana."

Brittany grinned and hugged Holly. She turned and pulled gingerly on Santana's hand unsure how long it took for the invisible barrier to dissipate. When Santana's hand and then boot crossed the threshold, Brittany beamed. Santana stood inside the door, holding the pink box, and waited.

Holly turned her back and walked to the desk where Artie and Tina were looking at the computer. Brittany bounced in after Holly and kneeled on the couch. Seeing that Santana was still standing near the doorway, Holly said, "Do you need a more formal invitation? We've got work to do here."

Brittany enthusiastically waved Santana over towards the desk. Holly moved so as to stand on the opposite side, farthest away from Santana. Shelby brought a cup of tea from the kitchen and handed it to Holly, eyeing Santana along with Quinn and Sam. Artie waved and Santana waved back.

Tina waved, smiling, "Hi, Santana."

Santana's face softened and she smiled back at Tina, "Hey, Tina."

"I know we're still in the midst of the awks and exchanging squinty looks," Artie said, "but I smell donuts."

"Oh, yeah," Santana said placing the box on the table next to the laptop. "These are for you guys."

Artie, Tina, and Brittany smiled and opened the box, picking out their favorites from the box and promptly taking bites. "Ain't no shame in my game," Artie said, licking sprinkles off his fingers.

Brittany picked up the box and angled it downward for Sam to see. "Apple fritters for you, Sam," Brittany said trying to entice him.

Sam glanced at Quinn who frowned when he smiled and took a step towards the box. "Don't take this as an endorsement of any kind." Sam picked out his donut and took a bite. His mouth full, he sighed, "I wish I knew how to quit you!"

Brittany turned the box towards Holly, who shook her head. "Tina, when you're ready…" Holly said impatiently.

"Sorry, nom nom almost done…done," Tina said covering her mouth. With her clean pinky, she hit the enter key and the video she'd taken of the lock appeared.

"Do you know what that is?" Holly asked, looking at Santana.

Santana leaned forward and watched the video as Tina turned the lock over slowly so that all sides could be viewed. When the video restarted and the front side of the lock was clearly visible, Santana spoke.

"Stop it there."

Shelby looked at Holly and smiled weakly.

"You recognize it?" Holly asked looking at Santana.

"Can you make it a little bigger?" Santana asked, ignoring Holly. Tina complied hitting a few more buttons with her pinky. "The symbol represents Acathala. Or his imprisonment at least." Santana said.

"Acathala?" Holly repeated, reaching for a small leather bound notebook on her desk. She looked at Shelby who shook her head.

"Aca-xcuse me? Aca-what?" said Sam. "A chance to use that line comes once in a lifetime." Sam pumped his fist a few times.

"I thought it was just a legend. Like a fairytale for vampires and demons and the like," Santana said.

"Tell us," said Shelby. Quinn stepped closer to the desk listening carefully.

"He was a demon who could suck the soul out of humans. The theory was that if he found enough pure, true souls, he could use their power to bring the underworld to the surface and send…humans…underground forever," Santana said.

Everyone was quiet.

"What's the lock about?" Tina asked.

"And why is he cut up?" asked Brittany.

"He was about to take the last soul, the soul of a valiant warrior," Santana said.

"Like Neytiri?" Tina said, elbowing Brittany.

"Or Danaerys Targaryen," said Brittany winking.

"Winter is coming!" said Sam. "Sorry, I couldn't help it." He took another bite of his apple fritter.

"The legend goes that Acathala and the warrior fought for hours and everything looked as though Acathala would win, but somehow at the last moment, the warrior drew strength from somewhere and planted his sword in Acathala's chest. Striking him there didn't kill him but it did render him helpless."

"So the people dismembered him and spread out the parts so he couldn't be awakened?" Holly said.

"That's it, exactly. The piece were crated up and spread all over the world. The emblem on the lock was supposed to be a warning to humans of what was inside and not to open. But if you have a lock and no crate…" Santana said.

"That means someone has opened at least one crate," said Tina.

"Not someone, something. We found the lock on a band of vampires, demons and a werewolf," said Brittany.

"A werewolf?" asked Santana.

"Yeah. Is there any reason to think this Acathala and a sudden increase in werewolf activity are related?" asked Holly.

"Werewolves? Not that I know of," Santana said. "Although it is really odd for demons, vampires, and werewolves to be hanging out together."

"Maybe this is the one flag they can all unite under," Holly said. "We're dealing with a lot more than just vampires, demons, and werewolves working together. If we can't stop them, this Acathala could destroy the world as we know it."

"We're gonna need a bigger boat," Sam said.

* * *

**Part Two**

"If the metaphysical divining rods that Shelby and Tina constructed work," Holly said, "we should be able to find the hotspot for all this activity…hopefully that leads us to wherever they're trying to reassemble Acathala."

Tina and Shelby carefully removed 'L'-shaped copper rods from a cardboard box sitting in the trunk of Shelby's car. Artie sat inside the back of his van while Brittany, Quinn, Holly and Sam took a step closer to Holly, Shelby, and Tina standing in front of Shelby's car. The short side of the 'L' rods were wrapped in leather cord securing a white quartz crystal to the bend of each rod. Shelby and Tina handed a set of rods to Sam, Artie, Holly, and Brittany.

"How does it work?" Sam said, flicking the crystal with his finger. "ET phone home!" Sam chuckled as he reached out to touch Quinn's finger with the crystal.

"Don't!" Tina exclaimed. "That's aligned with the copper in the rods in a very specific way. Don't muck with it," Tina said glaring at Sam.

"It works like this," Shelby began, loosely holding two rods parallel to each other by the short ends. As she did so, a black car rolled to a stop a few yards behind her. "Around us, the rods stay parallel and the crystal stays clear and white." Santana got out of the car and slowly approached the group. "But in the presence of a supernatural creatures emitting a metaphysical aura, an energy, of great magnitude or a concentration of lesser energies…" As Santana stepped closer to the group, the rods began to slowly move, swinging back and forth slightly as if blown by the wind; the white crystal dimmed and clouded slightly grey. All eyes moved from the rods in Shelby's hands to Santana.

"When in the presence of great evil it goes beserker like that?" Quinn asked.

Santana looked at the rods and then Brittany.

"Tina?" Brittany said frowning.

Tina reached into the back of the van. "Shelby, you may want to step back a few yards..." Shelby turned and trotted away from the group for a few seconds. Tina waited. As soon as Shelby was a good distance away, she removed the lock of Acathala from an insulated box. The moment the lock was out of the box, the rods moved wildly in all directions and the crystal turned progressively darker. "In the presence of inhuman metaphysical energy that's dark…" Tina held the lock out in front of her no less than four or five car lengths away from Shelby, the arms of the rod crossed each other forming an 'X' shape and the crystal turned solidly black in color. "…it should do that. We tuned them to the lock. We figured where the locks are is where the pieces are and that's the center of the hive."

"Nice work, babe" Artie said from the back of the van.

Brittany reached out a hand to Santana, who moved to stand by her side.

"I think you're missing the point that it's saying the vamp is evil..." Quinn started.

"Quinn," Holly said looking sternly at Quinn

"Just saying..." Quinn replied.

"I'm with Slayer #2, the one _not_ dating a vampire," said Sam. "Isn't having her around going to throw a metaphysical monkey wrench, a supernatural spanner, if you will, into the works?"

Brittany took a step forward. "I trust her and I want her here. Seeing as you're here by choice, you can-"

"We should work quickly," Holly interrupted, "but methodically and cover all the cemeteries in the area. It'll be faster if we all work one cemetery at a time. For safety, we'll work in pairs. Tina and Artie, you'll cover the areas closest to the road in the van?" They both nodded. "Shelby and I'll start at the front of the cemetery. Quinn, you and Sam start in the middle and work back towards the front?" Both Quinn and Sam nodded; Sam still glaring at Santana. "Brittany and Santana, start at the back of the cemetery and work towards us?" Santana nodded. "It shouldn't take more than an hour. We've got eleven cemeteries to cover. We should be able to do that in three nights."

"There's eleven cemeteries in Sunnydale?" Quinn asked. "That should've been a clue right there; a cemetery for every man, woman, and child."

"Let's get started?" Holly said. A murmur of assent went up and they parted ways.

* * *

Tina leaned out the window of Artie's van as he slowly rolled along the access roads of the first cemetery of the night. "Artie? Can I ask you a question?"

"I think you're two for two right this second," Artie replied glancing over at her. "What's on your very complex yet beautiful mind?"

Tina glanced over her shoulder and smiled at him, then turned back to the divining rods. "What do you think about Brittany and Santana being together?"

Artie paused and shrugged as he made a turn onto a new access road, the gravel making crunching sounds under the tires of the van. "I guess I don't think about it. She seems happy. What else is there to think about?"

Tina turned around, beaming at Artie. "She does seem happy, doesn't she?"

"She very much does."

"I just hope it lasts," Tina said turning back to the divining rods.

* * *

"You handled that really well," Shelby said, turning to look at Holly who was walking a few feet to her right.

"Handled what?"

"Quinn, Sam, and Brittany," Shelby replied.

Holly sighed. "It's not that I don't agree with them about Brittany. Girlfriend be tripping. And I don't trust Santana any longer than she could work on her tan…"

"I sense a 'but' coming…"

"But she did try to help Brittany when she took on the vampires at the warehouse. And she did save Emma. And she did help us identify the lock. I don't know how long we'd still be looking if she hadn't helped."

"But…"

"But I'll never be comfortable with a vampire in our midst. Who's to say her loyalties will always be with Brittany? Who's to say this_ isn't_ just an elaborate plan to destroy Brittany? Can we be sure Snixx is just a page in her history and she's not just waiting to ambush us?"

"We can't. We can't be sure of anything beyond today, beyond tonight," Shelby replied, stopping and pulling Holly to her by the hand. "So let's just try and focus on now and enjoy this lovely moonlit… hunt for dismembered demons…"

Shelby and Holly both laughed.

"I do take you to all the best places in the Hellmouth, don't I?" Holly said wrapping her arms around Shelby.

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

"I love you, Shelby Corcoran."

"I love you, Holly 'Holla' Holiday," Shelby said leaning in to kiss Holly. "Now let's get finished so we can get home, get wine…"

"And get naked," Holly said chuckling.

* * *

"And the thing is, I went rushing into that warehouse trying to save her too," Sam said gesturing wildly with the divining rods as they walked. "But she only remembers the vampire." Quinn eyed him. "I did mouth to mouth on her! Which maybe I enjoyed more than she did, but still, that might have been what saved her…not some angsty vampire…"

"You got a real hard-on for the Brittster, Sam," Quinn said keeping her eyes on the cemetery in front of them. In the distance she could see Brittany walking with Santana.

"What? I'm a red blooded teenage boy! It means nothing!" Sam said, dropping the rods and covering his crotch. "Looking at anyone gives me a tingly feeling." Sam turned to look at Quinn then blushed. "I mean…"

Quinn shook her head, chuckling. "Not literally, doofus. And you better pick up those rods. You break 'em and you're on your own against Tina." Quinn fished a cigarette out of her pocket and lit it.

Sam stooped to pick up the rods and blew on them. "Look fine to me. And as far as Brittany goes, she had her chance, ninety-nine problems and Brittany ain't one. And frankly, my dear, I don't give a-"

"Okay, okay," Quinn said rolling her eyes.

"Besides, I'm on to bigger and better things..."

Quinn looked at him, raising an eyebrow, "Really, you ready to step up into the big leagues, slugger?" Sam stared down at the rods in his hands, twisting them side to side. Quinn looked him up and down and smiled.

"She doesn't like to be called 'big'. She prefers curvy," Sam said absently.

"What?" Quinn said frowning and taking a step back.

"What? What?"

"You're dating someone?"

"Dating is such a strong word…I'd say 'groping on a regular basis' sums it up better," Sam replied.

"Anyone I know?"

"Nope, and I'd like to stay that way," Sam said. Quinn recoiled. "No. I didn't mean it like that. Nothing wrong with you. I'd just like to keep my slay-life separate from my potentially novel life life. You know?"

"Yeah," Quinn said, flicking ash from her cigarette to the ground as they turned to walk the next row of graves, Brittany and Santana were visible in the distance. "Too bad everyone doesn't feel the same. You notice she lost her religion?"

"Lost her-" Sam started.

"The cross," Quinn said, "she doesn't wear the cross anymore. I guess makeout sessions with the vampire girlfriend get a little uncomfy if you're singeing her lady bits with your accessories."

Sam stared at Brittany and Santana. "You think they've gotten that far? Lady bits, I mean?"

"Seen the way they look at each other? If they haven't it's just a matter of time…"

* * *

"You're shivering," Santana said, looking over at Brittany. "Here, take my jacket." Santana slid out of the fitted black leather jacket and moved to help Brittany into it.

"Jacket might hinder slayage if we bump ugly," Brittany said, still holding the metal rods out in front of her.

"But that's what I'm here for. That's why you're holding the rods, so I can handle defense or offensive, whichever we need."

"Oh, really?" Brittany said smiling, balancing the rods atop a nearby gravestone and plunging her arms into the warm soft kid leather jacket.

"Yeah," Santana said smirking back at her as she settled the shoulders of the jacket on Brittany. "I wouldn't let something like a jacket hinder me."

"Well you better hope it doesn't hinder me or I won't be able to save your pretty little ass like usual," Brittany said, aiming and landing a punch to Santana's upper arm. Santana laughed. Brittany reached to pick up the rods she'd rested on the gravestone. "Mind if I down a granola bar?" A low groan sounded causing both women to snap their heads in the direction of the grave below.

Brittany glanced at the diving rod, now a dark shade of grey, still sitting atop the grave marker. "Rods work!" Brittany shouted as she rolled across the top of the headstone just as a hand snatched at her ankles her granola bar fell to the ground, as did a small black box from the pocket of Santana's leather jacket that Brittany was wearing.

Santana took a step forward but was thrown backwards by a vampire, who had been lying in a partially dug out shallow grave, lunged towards her. He looked side to side and then stood to face Brittany who was sitting cross-legged on another tombstone. Brittany cocked an eyebrow as he paused to brush the dirt away from his plaid jacket and straightened his small bowtie. Standing up straight once more, he looked at Brittany and growled loudly. His foot smashed Brittany's granola bar and she frowned back at him.

"I can't be the first person to have a difficulty taking you seriously in that outfit," she quipped as he lunged for her and she sprung into the air, kicking him the head. The vampire tumbled forward over the gravestone. Brittany glanced at the ground and and saw a small glint of light coming from the small box that had fallen out of Santana's pocket, now on the ground. She reached for it and saw a small silver ring with elaborate carvings of flowers on it. Brittany looked at Santana. "What's this?"

"That's for later," Santana said, reaching to take the box from Brittany just as the vampire jumped over the tombstone between them and charged directly at them.

"For me?" Brittany asked, grinning. "Oh my god, really?" The vampire knocked the box from Brittany's hand before Santana could take it back. The silver ring was knocked out of the box and flew through the air, landing on the gravel roadway nearby.

"Ugh! Now I'm hungry and angry and whatever other –gry's there are," Brittany said looking down at the now empty box. She cocked her arm backwards and landed a punch squarely to the vampire's nose as Santana caught him with a foot in the stomach. The vampire flew backwards into the gravestone behind him, let out a soft groan and lay still.

Santana stepped forward, raising her stake.

"Wait a second," Brittany said taking a step forward to look at the vampire again. "I know that one."

"How can you tell, his nose, actually his whole face is only a vague suggestion of its former shape," said Santana.

Brittany smiled at Santana but then turned back to the vampire who was slowly waking up. "I think this is one of the ones Quinn and I ran into the other night when we found the lock." Brittany put two fingers in her mouth and blew a loud taxi whistle to summon the others.

"A moment or two's warning before you do that again?" Santana said shaking her head.

"Sorry," Brittany smiled. "Let's just hold him down, maybe we can get him to talk?"

The rest of the group jogged over to meet them, all crowding around the gravestone. Tina picked up the divining rods that had been trampled, the quartz stone was missing and the metal was curled into a spiral shape. Brittany smiled at Tina and shrugged, mouthing, 'sorry.'

"Hey!" Quinn said as she saw the vampire's face.

"Yup," Brittany said, turning to Holly. "This is one of the vamps who dropped our lock a few nights ago."

The vampire started to stir and Quinn leaned over the vampire and held her stake out menacingly at his chest. Holly and Brittany kneeled nearby.

"Quinn," Holly started, "slow your roll. Let's see if he'll talk first."

"Where'd you get the lock?" Brittany asked.

The vampire focused on Brittany and moved his lips to began, "We pick-"

Before the words were fully out of his mouth, Quinn fired a hard shot across his jaw.

"Quinn?!" Brittany exclaimed.

"Sorry, I thought he was going to resist a little first," Quinn said. "My bad."

* * *

"Brittany could learn a thing or two from Quinn," Sam whispered to Artie who was sitting in his wheelchair in the back of the van. "Pummel vampire first, ask questions later."

Santana turned to so that Sam could see her face and sneered.

"Crap, she could hear me?" Sam said, as he scrambled up into the back of the van. Faintly he said, "Can you hear me now?"

Santana nodded and Artie answered, "Yup, she can. Loud and clear."

"Your outfit is looking lovely tonight, so glad I didn't ruin the shoes," Sam squeaked scooting further back into the van.

* * *

The vampire started again. "We picked up boxes from the docks. I don't know where they came from."

"How many boxes?" Holly asked.

"I don't know, I can't remember," the vampire said.

Holly nodded at Quinn, who grinned and punched him in the center of his chest. "Next time that's a stake, fanger!"

Brittany and Holly looked at each other.

"Okay, okay! I think it was…three boxes…maybe four…" the vampire said. Quinn raised her arm prepared to punch him again. "Wait! Definitely four, it was four."

"Where did you take the boxes?" Brittany asked.

"I dropped them off outside of town. Just this abandoned lot. Left them sitting out in the open just the way they told me to."

"Who's they?" asked Holly.

In Santana's peripheral vision she saw a dark figure lurking in the graveyard listening intently to the conversation. Santana quickly assessed the distance and concluded the eavesdropper wasn't human. She watched him as the conversation with the vampire continued.

"No way!" the vampire said shaking his head. "You can pummel me all you want, stake me even, there's no way I'm telling you that."

Quinn looked at Holly and shrugged. Holly nodded and Quinn let go of a barrage of punches to the vampire's face. She then held her stake so the tip was touching the vampire's chest.

The vampire spit out several teeth and then smiled at them. "Nothing compared to what'll happen if I tell," he laughed, throwing his head back. The laugh slowly rose in pitch until it sounded like a cackle.

"Hysterical much?" Brittany said.

With a loud grunt, the vampire lunged forward and drove the stake in Quinn's hand into his chest. Ashes showered Quinn, Holly, and Brittany.

"That was not my fault!" Quinn said, dropping the stake and raising her hands as if in surrender.

Holly stood up and leaned against the tombstone. "I don't think he was going to tell us anymore."

"How many abandoned lots are there in Sunnydale?" Brittany asked.

"Parking lots, building lots, there's lots of lots…" Tina said.

"Sunnydale isn't enjoying an economic boom nowadays," Shelby continued.

"We covered three cemeteries tonight," Holly said. "I think that's more than an adequate start. Tomorrow morning, let's regroup and figure out how to cover the abandoned lots and the rest of the cemeteries quickly."

They all murmured their goodnights and Holly and Shelby headed in the direction of the parked cars. Santana kept her eye on the dark figure in the distance who was still listening in. "Artie, would you mind taking Brittany? I wanna double back over the last part of the cemetery. Maybe that vamp was throwing off the readings." Artie nodded.

"I'll stay!" Brittany said, putting an arm around Santana's waist.

"You've got school and probably a quiz or something tomorrow," Santana said.

"No, I don't," Brittany replied, her eyes darting to Tina.

"Yes, we do! In Ms. Corcoran's class," Tina replied.

"Tina!" Brittany yelled. "I gave you the look. Why didn't you back me up?"

"Oh," Tina said, "I was never good with the look. I didn't know if that was the 'tell her' look or the 'don't tell her' look. They're virtually identical, you know…"

"See? " Santana said. "Ride back with Artie? I'll check on you before sunrise, okay?" Santana placed a small kiss on Brittany's forehead.

"Promise?"

"I promise," Santana replied.

Sam made retching sounds from inside the van.

Santana rolled her eyes and looked towards the van.

"She can still hear you, dude," Artie said from the front seat.

"I swallowed a Jolly Rancher! No big! I'm good!" Sam called out. "Almost needed the Heimlich but, I'm good. Gutted it out. Stable condition. No problemo. Those sour apples one's'll get you everytime."

"You coming or what?" Quinn yelled from the back of the van. "Last call is in a few minutes and I got a $5 bill burning a hole in my pocket."

"Front or back pocket?" Sam asked. Tina smacked him in the back of the head.

"Okay!" Brittany called out before turning to Santana. "If it gets too close to sun-up, don't take the chance, I'll just see you tomorrow night, okay?" Santana nodded and leaned forward to kiss Brittany. Even with her eyes closed, in the distance Santana heard the dark figure start to move.

Brittany climbed into the back of the van and waved. As the van pulled away, Santana scanned the gravel for the silver ring. She picked it up, finding no damage to it other than a bit of grey dust, she wiped it off and tucked it in her cleavage, smiling. She stood still for a moment, listening for movement elsewhere in the cemetery. When she was sure the dark figure had a good headstart, Santana started jogging silently behind him.

The dark figure picked up speed and Santana had to break into a run to catch up. If she'd had any doubts before, the speed at which this thing was running assured her that it wasn't human. In fact, she was pretty sure it was a demon, it was fast, but not vampire fast. After a twenty minute run, Santana found herself hiding behind a large yellow construction vehicle outside of town. "Abandoned lot, check," Santana said.

The dark figure had zigzagged all through town, suggesting he was worried about being followed. Santana double checked for the silver ring in her cleavage and smiled. She was glad she'd sent Brittany home, if this creature was anywhere near as worried as the vampire in the cemetery about giving away information, she felt safer knowing Brittany was safe at home. Even though demons had much more blunted senses than vampires, out in the middle of nowhere, like this lot, the smell of a human would be plain as day with nothing else, not even grass or trees to mask the distinctive scent. She watched the creature circle the building a few times, obviously hoping to catch someone following him. Santana was careful to stay down wind of him and to move very slowly. Apparently the third time around the building was the charm and he ducked down a set of stairs on the side closest to the construction vehicle.

Santana started to creep closer, but when she was halfway to the parking structure, she heard a distinctive roar.

"SNIIIIIIIXX! Damn you!"

Santana muttered, "Rachel, why didn't you just leave town?" and turned to head back home.

* * *

"Thanks for taking me to get my stuff so I could spend the night at Brittany's," Tina said. She stood on tiptoe to give Artie a kiss through the window of his van.

"Don't stay up too late doing girl stuff," Artie said.

"You mean like pillow fights and braiding each other's hair?" Tina asked smirking.

"Well, that…and researching ancient prophecies and trying out magic spells…"

"You know me so well," Tina said planting another kiss on Artie's lips. "See you tomorrow."

"I'm counting on it. Don't disappoint me," Artie said before he waved at Tina and Brittany and drove off.

Tina ran up the steps to Brittany's house where Brittany was waving to Artie from the doorway. The two girls ran up the stairs and into Brittany's bedroom after they both called goodnight to Ms. Pierce.

"Which should we do first?" Tina asked as she hopped onto Brittany's bed. "The hair braiding or the magic spells?"

"Can't we do both at once? I'll braid you first."

"Okay!" Tina said turning her back to Brittany. "I've got the perfect spell for us. Now, just try and hold still and don't say anything at all until I give the all clear, okay?" Brittany nodded and pulled Tubbington into her lap, one hand over his mouth, the other over her own. She sat down in a chair near the window. "Okay, here we go. _Ĉiuj knabinoj bezonas grandan konsolanto en momentoj de streso. Donu al ni varma buterumita pufmaizon kaj fari ĝin freŝaj._"

There was a small pop and a flash of light. Tina turned towards Brittany smiling. "I smell it! Popcorn!" Brittany nodded her head. "Oh, it's okay, you can talk. Do you smell the popcorn?"

Brittany nodded and pointed at the bed. Tina looked down to see her lap and the bed covered in popcorn. "Crap! Popcorn for comfort! Not popcorn for comforter! Ugh!"

Tubbington jumped down from Brittany's arms and began eating the popcorn.

"Tubbington is usually pretty strict about his Paleo diet, so this must be pretty good," Brittany replied before popping a single white kernel in her mouth. She chewed slowly, her face changing expression several times. After an exaggerated swallow, she gave Tina a thumbs up sign.

Tina put a small handful of kernels in her mouth and frowned. "I guess it wasn't all fail. I'll get you a new comforter."

"Oh, it's fine. This tastes much better than my old comforter," Brittany said laughing. Tina joined in. "Help me grab some plastic bags to put it all in so we have some place to sleep?" Tina and Brittany trotted down the stairs returning with plastic bags to store the popcorn.

The girls worked quickly to sweep the popcorn off the bed and into the bags. Lord Tubbington took care of the popcorn on the floor.

"Should we study or dish?" Tina asked once they were sitting on the bed again, each of them as full of popcorn as the plastic bags stuffed in Brittany's closet. Tina had been looking through the computer science textbook and Brittany was drawing sombreros on the computers pictured in her book.

"Is that even a question?" Brittany asked tossing her book off the bed and scooting closer to Tina. "So how was your night with Artie?"

Tina looked up smiling from her book. "It was great. I mean not a conventional date, hanging out in the cemeteries looking for a supernatural juice from concentrate….but as nights on the Hellmouth go…it was fantastic." Both girls giggled. "You and Santana?"

"It was nice. And it was getting nicer until that stupid vamp interrupted. Did you see she gave me her jacket?"

"Yeah, like the next step after giving you clothes to put on is probably giving you clothes to take off…" Tina giggled.

Brittany smiled. "I think I'm ready for that. I mean, I'm like soooo ready for that, no doubt. I can't wait to see how gorgeous her body is and how she looks when she…" Brittany blushed realizing Tina was watching her. She looked at Tina and smiled. Tina blushed. "But…"

"But? But what? Is she pressuring you? I could give her the 'no means no' talk or work a spell that…"

"No, I think we both want it…pretty bad…"

"Soooo?"

"I found a ring in her jacket pocket, and like when I asked her about it she said it was 'for later'."

"Oh my god! It was for you?" Tina squealed. "First the cross and now a ring? Do I need to start campaigning for vampire-slayer marriage equality?"

"I was kinda excited until I realized I recognized the ring," Brittany said. Tina frowned and waited. "It was a silver ring with carvings in it…carvings of flowers."

"We don't like flowers? Did I miss a memo?"

"The flowers were the same flowers from my dream…the one where I tried to Red Queen her…"

"Oh," said Tina.

"Yeah, so I have a dream about flowers and she gives me a ring with the same flowers on it and the prophecy says she's going to be killed by a Slayer and I have a dream about killing her…I've had the exact same dream like four or five times now…it's got to mean something…" Brittany took a deep breath.

"Whoa. Conclusions. You. Somersaulting to. Don't you think? And back up. What's this about a prophecy saying you were going to kill her?" Tina asked.

Brittany reached across her bed to open the drawer on her bedside table. She pulled out one of the books Tina had brought her a few days before. There was a fuzzy bright orange and yellow bookmark wedged into the book.

"It says it right here, I'm going to kill her," Brittany said, handing the open book to Tina and pointing.

"Prophecies are always subject to interpretation," Tina said taking the book and running her finger down the page. "There's an art to translating these things…it's never just…"Tina paused as he finger came to rest on a sentence that read '_The Dark One shall be killed by The Slayer'_. "Of course they decide to be all un-prophecy-y this one time…must have been an intern…"

Brittany sighed loudly and forcefully flopped backwards on her bed. "See? The Slayer- me!"

"Okay. Okay. Let's take a step back. She's a vampire, right? Good vampire or bad vampire, unless she suddenly forgets she's deathly allergic to vitamin D, how else is she going to die besides a Slayer? It doesn't mean you."

"Quinn?!" Brittany sat up suddenly, "If she so much as…"

"Who says it's even soon? There's no date. And she's a vampire. This could be 200 years away, right?"

"Oh, like after I'm dead? And Quinn too. So some other Slayer," Brittany said frowning. "I guess that's better… best case scenario is I'll die before she gets killed…"

"Wow. I guess that's true love."

"But it's life ruining, devastating, I can't live without her kind of love, not just love love, you know?" Tina nodded.

"Yeah," Tina said smiling.

"Ugh! Look what she's done to me! I think about her all day, I dream about her all night…only the dreams are the beheading kind…they're obviously a sweeps week gimmick, all sweaty and sexy and violent, but it's a repeat and DreamTube won't let me unsubscribe," said Brittany. Tina rubbed her back.

"It'll be okay," Tina said. "I can tell she feels the same way about you. She rushed over to the warehouse to save you; she risked her life for you. And she's got a long life to risk. It's very teen tragic."

"Right? I feel like I'm trapped in a Twilight novel. But I guess it's like Lord Tubbington always says, just paw for the course."

Tina frowned.

"As soon as I started to climb the social ladder in LA, boom- I get called to be the Slayer. I save the entire student body from certain undead death, boom- expelled. I meet the first girl who has ever made me feel so strong, so fast…so alive- boom, she's a vampire."

"The prophecies don't say it doesn't work out with you two," Tina said flipping pages in the book.

"It also doesn't say she 'The Dark One still grieving over the death of her one true love, her human wife, the Slayer' either."

"Yeah, it doesn't say that," Tina replied.

"How do the Twilight books end?"

* * *

**Part Three**

Artie rolled up to Tina And Brittany standing near their lockers. "Top of the morning to you, lovely ladies." Tina leaned down and kissed Artie on the cheek.

"Hey, Artie," Brittany said, closing her locker and leaning against it waiting for Tina.

"I was just thinking," Artie began, "the werewolves, maybe they're not such a-"

A loud buzzer echoed in the hallway and all heads turned in the direction of the principal's office. A tall woman with platinum blonde hair, dressed in a jogging suit, released her finger from a button on the large megaphone in her hand. Just then Sam and Mercedes walked up to Brittany and the others in front of the lockers.

"Hear ye! Hear ye! Yo! Yo! Yo! Listen up!" the woman shouted into the megaphone. "My name is Rozalyn Parks Washington and if I ever hear one of you call me by first name I will snatch the molars out of your gingivitis-riddled gums before you get to the 'z'!"

"What the-?" Brittany began shoving her fingers in her ears.

"Hell!" Sam finished placing his hands over his ears.

"Oh no, blonde and blonder," the woman said aiming the megaphone at Brittany, "not hell, this is gonna be heaven. Heaven on earth. And you know why?"

Brittany flinched but shook her head 'no'.

"Because Principal Washington says so!" Principal Washington shouted into the megaphone. "When Principal Washington rolls into town, she gets! It! Done! Do you hear me? Since the earth cooled, since the dinosaurs gave up, since Adam was a boy- and not necessarily in that order, Creationist students- Principal Washington has been kicking adolescent ass! "

"She doesn't look old enough to have known the dinosaurs, that's like more than a hundred years ago…right?" Sam said.

"Black don't crack," Mercedes said. "It's about time they put a strong woman in charge, I for one, approve."

"Is she allowed to say that? Ass?" Tina whispered to Artie.

Principal Washington took a step forward and aimed the megaphone at Tina. "I am Principal Washington! It's my world. You are just a squirrel trying to get my nuts! I taught Amanda Bynes how to tweet, introduced Katy Perry to Elmo, and Selener to Beleiber… "

Tina's eyes widened in fear and she stepped behind Artie. "Are those good things?"

"…I am the all seeing, all knowing, Principal Washington. I have committed every one of your personal files to memory. I know what you're thinking before your little neurons have grunted and strained to get the full thought out!"

"You know what we're thinking?" Sam asked.

"Oh, yes, I do, Blonde Beiber. I know you and Miss Mercedes Jones like to play ebony and ivory in the janitor's closet and don't think anyone knows. Well, guess what? I know!"

Everyone in the hallway turned to look at Sam and Mercedes. Mercedes opened her mouth to speak but instead turned and ran down the hall. Sam smiled embarrassed. Tina, Brittany, and Artie stared at him frowning.

"My day isn't a success until I make at least one of you cry. Look at that, it's only 8 o'clock. Do you children understand that this is a new day? A new dawn? A new beginning?!"

The students gathered in the hallway stared at her.

"Nod to me! Nod if my words are eating through the waxy buildup in your earbud plugged ears!"

The students looked at one another and nodded.

"Day one! Fin!" Principal Washington yelled before raising the megaphone to shoulder height and dropping it, causing it to let out an earsplitting squawk. She went back into the office and slammed the door.

"Well," said Artie. "I like her."

* * *

_**A/N: As ALWAYS thanks so much for reading and following and favoriting . It makes my day. The reviews make my whole month! Thank you! You guys are so sharp and catch every little morsel I drop. I hope I can still sneak in some surprises. I think there's some gooooood stuff just ahead...**_

_**Thanks Nayabenelux for the idea, the endless support and for your beneluxing when the fandom is feeling low. Thank you!**_

_**Thanks Atomic K for not blocking me on every chat application in the Universe. Your feedback has been sooo helpful.**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five **

**Part One**

Brittany strode into the cafeteria and looked around puzzled at the number of students standing instead of sitting at their tables. When she reached the table where Artie, Sam, and Tina were sitting, Tina jumped up to sit on Artie's lap offering her seat to Brittany.

"Are they casting for the Dazed and Confused sequel? Why is everyone standing around looking shiftless?" Brittany asked as she shifted her backpack to sit down in the chair Tina offered.

"No one knows, we came in this morning and there were hardly any chairs. I've been camped out here since 7AM," Sam said.

"Ugh, I bet it this is el worko de el jefe," Brittany said sighing. Tina opened her mouth to correct her.

"Well, well, she speaks Spanish. We're one step closer to figuring out your native language Miss Pierce," said Principal Washington as she moved to stand next to Brittany. "I'll have you know I removed two fifths of all the chairs in the cafeteria."

"Why?" Tina asked.

"Thank you for asking," Principal Washington leaned down close to the table. Sam, Tina, Brittany and Artie leaned down to hear the secret as well. Principal Washington shouted, "Because you adolescent bunnies will use any horizontal surface to scratch that itch!" All four of the Scoobies jerked their heads back and covered their ears. "And as for you, Mr. Roboto," Principal Washington said gesturing to Artie, to which Brittany mouthed 'see?' to Tina, "I've petitioned the school board and as of right now there's nothing I can do about you and your moving love machine right now, but I so much as catch the first note of Kisses Down Low coming from your direction, and you and your mobile bump-n-grind unit will be rolling on off school property, out of my school district , past county line and state borders! Ya hear?" Tina jumped off Artie's lap and looked at Principal Washington with wide eyes. Artie sat looking at Principal Washington with his mouth open.

Mercedes entered the lunch room and headed straight to her usual table, where her entourage was already seated. When she neared, the girls turned their chairs so their backs were facing her. Mercedes opened her mouth to speak but instead turned to look around the cafeteria hoping no one had seen. Sam waved at her from the Scoobie table and stood up, offering his chair. Mercedes smiled and took a step towards him, eliciting jeers from the table behind her. Mercedes eyes filled with tears and she ran out of the cafeteria. Sam ran after her.

Principal Washington shook her head and pursed her lips in disgust. "The school board better move to stop their nonsense before we have another after school special on our hands."

"The bullying?" Tina asked.

"No! The chairs won't come back until the board replaces the condoms in the bathroom with flavors I approve of, there'll be no hanky and zero panky in Principal Roz's world. Ya feel me? And there'll be dental dams for the girl on girl action. I don't care how you catch your booty, as long as there's not cooty."

"Lord Tubbington blogged about that last week. He called it a 'Love Lockdown'. He's started a Facebook campaign against you," Brittany said.

"And who is Lord Tubbington?" Principal Washington asked.

"My cat," said Brittany shrugging.

"Is that some euphemism I really don't wanna know about?"

"Nope," Tina replied, "just her cat."

Principal Washington raised an eyebrow and leaned forward glaring into Brittany's eyes. "Those are some powerful drugs. As soon as I get a pee test in place, you are first to go!" Principal Washington smacked the table with her fist jolting all of them with the noise. "I'm ghost!" she yelled before exiting the cafeteria.

* * *

**Part Two**

"Thank you for meeting with me over lunch," Shelby said as she sat down in the dimly lit, tapestry filled room. The owner of the new age magic shop, ran her tongue over her yellowed teeth and eyed Shelby suspiciously. She moved as if every joint in her body ached.

"Ve vill begin," the old woman said in a thick theatrical accent, "vhen you make it vorth it for me." The woman coughed and she and Shelby looked at each other for a beat.

Shelby looked embarrassed and reached into her purse for a small white envelope. She ran her fingers over the cash inside and slid it across the table. The woman tucked the envelope in her bra, keeping her eye on Shelby as she did so. "You don't want to count it first?"

"You don't look foolish enouvh to cross a gypsy," the woman said slowly; her accent strong on every syllable.

Shelby frowned, "You mean Romani?"

"Oh, look at the smart vone. She's ridden de yellow bus to school," the woman said rolling her eyes.

"Maybe this is a mistake," Shelby said looking around her at the room that could have been copied from any bad movie. "My Uncle Enyo said you were-"

The old woman sat up straight. "Enyo?" She said with no trace of accent in her voice.

"Yes…" Shelby said more worried than ever.

"Why didn't you say you were family? I took you for a gaje," the woman said smiling and standing up quickly, no evidence of aging joints at all. She pulled Shelby to her feet and gave her an awkward hug. Shelby suppressed a cough at the smell of the strong incense that clung to the woman. "This gypsy hokum is all for the townie new middle agers and tweeners fascinated by tarot cards. It pays the bills and it's putting my boys through private college."

Shelby smiled weakly.

"So what can I do for you…" the woman gestured indicating she was waiting for something from Shelby.

"Simza. Simza Kaldardash," Shelby said. "Uncle Enyo is my-"

"Say no more, Kaldardash, I know who you are. Enyo is like prala to me. I'm Tasaria Petulengro, he doesn't mention me?" The woman went to a large wood cabinet intricately carved and opened the double doors revealing numerous colored glass bottles filled with equally colorful liquids. She considered the bottles and then pulled a tall clear bottle with bright purple fluid in it. She filled two shot glasses and brought them to the table.

"I'm sorry, I don't-"

"It's okay. My family was just stable hands until Puridaia bumped her head, gaining the dook, and started seeing the future." The woman gestured for Shelby to sit down. She placed the shot glass in front of Shelby so forcefully that a third of its contents spilled onto the table. "But Enyo not remembering me makes me sad, we had a summer of magic together…"

Shelby eyed the drink and looked at her watch. She sighed inwardly and sat down. She put her hand on the glass and smiled. "I thought he was like a brother to you?"

"_After_ that summer he was," the woman said raising the shot glass to eye level in front of her. "Baksheesh!"

"Baksheesh," Shelby replied preparing herself for the taste of the odd colored liquid. She tried as best she could to pour it over her tongue hoping to bypass her tastebuds. She was startled to discover it tasted pleasantly like lavender.

"Now what can I do for you, chavi," the woman said. She poured more purple liquid into Shelby's glass.

"Have you heard of Acathala?"

The woman's eyes widened. "Why? Why would you ask that?"

"I just," Shelby started, watching the woman's eyes fill with dread. "It's for a paper I'm writing. That's all."

"Ah, most Roma think it's all parmitsha, fairytales," the woman said lowering her voice and leaning closer, "but let me tell you. My puridaia was afraid of nothing and she always said prayer against Acathala rising. Always."

"What do you know about Acathala?"

The woman frowned, put a finger to her lips, and looked back over her shoulder even though they were clearly alone. "I know enough not to keep saying his name so loud," she leaned forward and whispered. "Acathala is a rock best left unturned. You pick another topic for your paper."

"But I want to understand-"

"Understand this," the woman said sternly, "Acathala is the end. You know the stories of the world ending in fire?" Shelby nodded her head at the woman. "All written before him. Fire would be a blessing compared to him." The woman frowned and nodded.

"Surely there's a spell or some sort of-"

The woman shook her head and interrupted. "He gets his power from greed and wickedness as much as purity."

"I thought he only fed on pure true souls?"

"You youngsters like to think of everything in absolutes. Purity and evil are not opposites, they're intimately related. In the old days, true evil was scarce. We dealt with it and kept it from growing, we didn't feed it. Acathala had to make do with pure souls, which meant he grew slowly. Now you get a TV reality show if you can prove you're more vile than the person standing next to you. The earth reeks of evil. If he returns, there is no hope, he'll grow unchecked. If he comes, don't waste time trying to conjure or sprinkle protections. No, you grab your loved ones and get as far away from other people for as long as you can. You write _that_ in your paper."

Shelby opened her mouth to speak but then decided against it. She nodded.

The woman stood and poured another shot of the purple drink for them both. "If that's your question, I could have saved you the time of coming."

"If you don't mind," Shelby started watching the woman for an indication, "I also want to know about the curse, the amria, that was put on the vampire called Snixx," Shelby said before taking a sip of the drink this time.

"That was strong binding; quality work," the woman said nodding her head and tossing the drink back.

"It gave her a soul as punishment, but can that be undone?" Shelby asked leaning forward. "I mean, there's no way for her to lose her soul is there?"

The woman tapped a wrinkled index finger on her lips and looked upwards frowning. "Hmm. I don't know the exact wording of the curse, chavi. You'd need to find that to know the…uh, what do you call them? Holes for loops?"

"Loopholes," Shelby offered.

"Yes, loopholes. The way I was told, this vampire Snixx is destined to suffer the guilt until she dies."

"Great," Shelby said, standing up. "That's what I wanted to hear. Thank you for your time. I really need to get back to school. I have a class to teach. I'll tell Uncle Enyo-"

The woman was frowning and ignoring Shelby. "Unless…yes, I remember. Unless she were to achieve true happiness."

"True happiness?"

"Yes, but how would a vampire achieve true happiness if they have a soul and can't enjoy the hunt or the kill anymore?"

Shelby frowned.

"It seems very unlikely to happen, chiva. It was a good binding, a good curse."

"It was," Shelby said, still repeating the words 'true happiness' in her head. "Thank you for your help." The woman nodded and Shelby turned to leave, pulling aside the heavy purple draperies that divided this back room from the front of the shop. The sunlight through the windows made her squint. The woman followed her out in to the shop and sat down behind in the counter, knitting needles materializing from somewhere and began clicking away.

Shelby put a hand on the door. "Say, you don't happen to know anything about werewolves do you?"

The woman twisted her face in disgust. "Awful smelly things. My first husband was one. He got hit by a bus."

"Other than buses, any way to deal with them?"

"Deal? Well, you know they're people. They just react badly to the full moon. You kill them, you kill the person that was bitten; an innocent"

* * *

**Part Three**

"I just don't understand why everything has to be about what everyone else thinks of you," Sam said leaning on the balcony overlooking the BronzeStixx. He swirled the straw in his is soda can.

Quinn glanced at him, her back to the rail and lit a cigarette.

"I mean she likes me. Isn't that enough? Why do who her friends are and who my friends are and how often I change my t-shirt matter so much?"

Quinn wrinkled her nose and exhaled.

"I mean, I don't hold that fact that she gets good grades and is popular and dresses really well and has won a lot of show choir titles against her? Right? Overachiever!"

"So why'd you hide dating her from the Scoobies? You were worried about what your friends would think just as much as she was."

Sam stopped and looked at her. "I liked it better when you were the silent partner."

Quinn shrugged. "I don't get all the teenage angst. Want, take, have, that's my motto. You see someone you want, you take 'em, you have 'em."

"Take and have 'em?"

"Yeah, just jump in there and pedal to the metal, baby," Quinn said, hitting Sam with her elbow and winking.

"Oh, well, we…don't…I mean I would, and I totally want to…but we don't," Sam fumbled.

"Are you shittin' me, Evans? You're just…pawing the steering wheel in daddy's car with no idea how to turn that engine over?"

Sam blinked, "You totally lost me with the car analogy. What's the steering wheel? And why do I have paws?" Sam looked at his hands frowning.

"God, this town is so basic cable. What're a girl's options around here when her motor is purring in overdrive?" Quinn said turning around to face the floor of the BronzeStixx below. As if on cue, Santana Lopez stepped into the club wearing a painted on purple dress that stopped mid thigh and a bolero cut black leather jacket. Santana nodded to the bartender and walked slowly towards the pool tables, her dark eyes subtly scanning the room as she did so. Quinn watched intently as Santana spoke to the players gathered around the pool table. She playfully knocked a black fedora hat off one of them, spun it on her finger and tapped it into place on her head, smiling. At that moment, Santana glanced up and saw Quinn. The expression on her face didn't change, but she nodded her head and turned back to the game without waiting for an acknowledgement from Quinn.

"…because it's the 'daddy's car' part that I find offensive. I could totally have a car if I weren't trying to reduce my carbon footprint…" Sam droned on beside Quinn.

Without taking her eyes off Santana on the floor below, Quinn dropped her cigarette into Sam's soda can and descended the balcony stairs. She pushed through the students milling near the base of the stairs and made a sharp left to towards the pool tables. She walked straight up to Santana, but at the last moment averted her eyes, looking down at her feet as she twirled a lock of hair around her finger.

"A little birdie told me…" Santana turned to face her as Quinn began, "you weren't getting the kind of big girl action you should be…" Quinn's finger was pulsing bright red as she twisted her hair tighter around it. She looked up, smirking, only to see Santana push past her walking towards the door. Quinn's eyes followed her trajectory and spotted Brittany and Tina coming through the front door of the BronzeStixx. She rolled her eyes, snatched a cigarette out of the mouth of one of the pool players, and inhaled.

* * *

Santana smiled unchecked as her eyes took in the sight of Brittany in a black mini-skirt and a sleeveless grey sweater that revealed her entire back.

"Hey," Santana said. She had to force her eyes not to drag along the perfectly tan skin showing in all directions in front of her.

"Hey, Santana," Brittany said, beaming.

"Hello! " Tina said. Santana and Brittany continued to look only at each other. "Hiya! Hey!" When no one replied or acknowledged her presence she frowned and went to look for Sam.

"Sorry I'm late," Brittany said.

"It's okay, the sun just went down a little while ago," Santana said.

"It took me forever to find the right earrings."Brittany smiled as she noticed Santana noticing her outfit. "Do I look okay?"

Santana took both of Brittany's hands in her own and stepped closer to her. "Brittany, for the record, that's one question that you never ever have to ask."

Brittany blushed and smiled at Santana.

"I mean it, you look fantastic…like always," Santana replied before placing a kiss on Brittany's lips.

"Thank you, Santana. You look really…really…" Brittany smirked before leaning in and whispering something into Santana's ear.

Santana laughed out loud. "I don't think anyone has ever said that to me."

"I hate to break up the slayer-vampire lovefest here," Quinn said a little too loudly, causing both Santana and Brittany to turn and frown at her. "But Sam says they won't let us keep the booth if we don't have a full party so…"

Santana nodded. "Let me tell the guys I'm sitting this one out." Brittany nodded as Santana walked back towards the pool tables.

"You do look nice, B," Quinn said as she and Brittany walked toward the couch where Tina and Sam were waiting.

"That's really nice of you to say, Quinn," Brittany said smiling brightly. "You look-"

Quinn interrupted. "It just seems a shame to waste all that on some_thing_ you might have to off one day, don't you think?"

"What?" Brittany slowed her pace but stayed with Quinn.

"Actually, on second thought, that ain't such a bad way to deal with exes, vamp or no. How about this? When it comes down to it, I'll spare you the grief. I'll stake her." Quinn shrugged.

Brittany stopped walking, standing perfectly still, glowering at Quinn who bounced over to the couch and sat next to Sam, smiling beatifically. She perched on the arm of the couch, her feet on the cushion. Santana approached Brittany from behind.

"What's wrong?" Santana asked.

"Nothing. Not a thing," Brittany said, staring at Quinn one second longer before turning to Santana and smiling as they walked to the couch to join the rest. "Hey, Scoobz!"

Tina and Sam waved at Brittany and Santana.

"Where's Artie?" Brittany asked.

"Setting up. His set starts soon," Tina replied. Brittany shrugged and sat down next to Tina leaving room for Santana.

"Can I get drinks for everyone?" Santana asked.

"Santana, this kind of kissing up to us, it's just not going to w-," Sam began.

"I'll have a Coke," Brittany said.

"Root beer for me," Tina replied.

"Make mine a rum and coke," Quinn said. When Santana rolled her eyes at her, she offered, "Or a Diet Coke, fine."

Sam shook his head and sighed. Standing he said, "Here, I'll help you carry them."

As soon as they left, Brittany turned to Tina. "Oh my god she looks so good, tonight!" Tina giggled excitedly and nodded her head. Quinn rolled her eyes and watched, taking a drag off her stolen cigarette. "So, I think tonight is gonna be the night."

Tina's eyes widened. "Tonight? Like _the night_, the night?" Brittany glanced over at Santana standing at the bar with Sam and nodded her head, grinning mischievously.

"Do you think it's too soon or…" Brittany asked Tina. Tina opened her mouth to reply but Quinn interrupted.

"Are you serious? Virgin on virgin advice about sex?" Quinn asked incredulously.

Brittany and Tina turned to look at Quinn sitting on the arm of the couch.

"Do I look like a virgin to you?" Brittany said, lowering her chin and looking up at Quinn.

"Yeah, do we look like virgins to you?" Tina added crossing her arms across the chest of her overalls with a rainbow patch on the front pocket. Quinn and Brittany looked at Tina. "Hey!"

"I mean," Quinn said, "if you're not a virgin, what's the big deal? The two of you suck all the moisture out of the room you get so wet looking at each other. What else are you waiting for to shimmy in the sheets? To krump in the covers? To twerk on the table? To-"

"I got it," Brittany said. She shrugged one shoulder and turned back to look at Santana at the bar. "I guess, I just want it to be really special. It won't be the first time for either of us, but it'll be the first time for _us_."

"That's so sweeeet!" Tina exclaimed.

"God, I'm gonna hurl," Quinn said. "Wish they'd hurry with those drinks!"

* * *

Mercedes glanced at her reflection in her compact, checking that her eye makeup and lipstick were still as perfect as when she'd last checked exactly sixty seconds ago. "Ten years of social domination all ruined by Principal Washington." She sighed. "God, and Sam. This is really his fault. If those lips of his weren't so…" The door to the BronzeStixx swung open and a couple stepped out along with a blare of music from inside. Mercedes looked down at her brand new dress and matching shoes, took a deep breath and turned around to go into the building.

She reached her hand out to stop the door from closing and stepped into the familiar dark stale-smell of the BronzeStixx. She scanned the room and quickly found her friends crowded around two tables closest to the stage. They were all dressed impeccably, of course, and she smoothed her dress knowing it was the designer they'd all been lusting after last week. Her hair was perfect. Her nails were perfect. Everything was perfect. She put a big smile on her face and started walking towards them.

"Mercedes!"

Mercedes turned, still smiling, towards the voice that called her. She saw Sam Evans beaming and holding three sodas in his hands. In his haste to approach her, he bumped into three people and spilled soda down the front of his shirt and pants. Mercedes couldn't help but flash a small smile, but quickly her thoughts turned to whether her friends across the room had seen. As she feared, they had.

"Mercedes?" Sam implored. She turned to look at him. "C'mon. Who cares what they think?"

Mercedes looked back over her shoulder at the well dressed people pointing and laughing at Sam. She looked at Sam and then over his shoulder at the fashion jumble assembled on the couch behind him, who he called friends.

"Just for tonight? Have a little fun with us?" Sam said smiling at her.

Mercedes shook her head and smiled. "I need to be committed," she said. "But maybe I can get my charity work credits for senior year out of the way…"

Sam's grin grew impossibly larger and gestured with his head for her to follow him to the couch. Sodas occupying his hands, he extended an elbow for her to take.

"Sam Evans, I am going to regret this for the rest of my life, aren't I?"

"Just high school, right?" Sam asked as they moved towards the couch and the Scoobies.

"Same difference, Sam. Same difference."

* * *

"Uh oh," Tina said seeing Mercedes approaching with Sam. "Tonight has officially crossed over into Bizarro World."

"Yeah, because vampires, demons and werewolves are all your everyday slice of normal," Brittany replied. "No offense," she offered, squeezing Santana's hand in hers.

"You don't understand. This is like social suicide for her. You can't just jump off the high dive and expect to climb back up the ladder again," Tina said. "This is for life."

"Some gangs beat in, we shame in," Brittany shrugged.

Sam set the drinks for Quinn, Tina, and himself down on the low table and then smiled at them. Mercedes waved weakly and the Scoobies smiled weakly in return."Guys, do you think I could have a second to talk to Mercedes alone?'

Tina, Santana, Quinn and Brittany all stared back at him. No one moved a muscle.

"Just for a second?" Sam asked. When there was still no evidence of movement, Sam turned to Mercedes."Wanna dance?"

The Scoobies watched as Sam and Mercedes moved to the dancefloor and began moving mostly in time to the beat.

"So," Quinn said, still sitting on the arm of the couch and resting her elbows on her knees, she leaned forward to get Santana's attention. "When was the last time you fed?"

"Quinn," Brittany said, glancing sideways at her while rubbing the inside of Santana's forearm with her fingertips.

"No, I mean, you gotta drink human blood every day, right?" Quinn continued.

"Quinn!" Brittany said standing up and stepping towards Quinn. "If you don't shut your mouth..."

"Whoa, B! "Quinn put both hands up in the air feigning innocence. "What? I'm trying to make friends here. If Santana is supposed to be just one of the guys, I should know something about her, right? You wouldn't lose your cool if I asked Tina about her mac and cheese would you?"

"Hey! Leave my mac and cheese out of this. But if I had to chose a side, me and my mac and cheese are on Brittany and Santana's side," Tina replied.

Quinn looked from Tina back to Santana and Brittany. She stood up and pointedly brushed into Brittany as she headed towards the door.

"Let's see who you call when your fanger goes rogue," Quinn said and stalked away.

Brittany opened her mouth and took a step towards following Quinn but Santana stood and placed a hand on the small of her back.

"It's not worth it," Santana said quietly. Brittany turned towards Santana, still angry. Santana smiled at her and placed a kiss on her nose. "It's really sexy when you're all about defending my honor…" they both chuckled. "Let's just watch Evans dance for a bit and then take off?"

Brittany fought the small smile that was growing on her face but nodded her head and sat down next to Santana, their fingers intertwined.

* * *

"See, not so bad, right?" Sam whispered into Mercedes ear.

"I guess that depends on your point of view. I'm horrified," Mercedes said.

"Horrified?" Sam said shifting his head to look at Mercedes.

"Horrified. They knew they were going to be in public together, they should have thought about how it was going to look," Mercedes said.

"Your friends?" Sam asked confused.

"What?"

"I was talking about how your friends would react to seeing us together," Sam said. He spun them around so that Mercedes could see that the small group of her friends were preoccupied with a conversation they were having amongst themselves and were paying no attention to Sam and Mercedes.

"Oh," Mercedes said, "yeah, they wouldn't cause a scene. It's all over FaceBook right now, I'd bet my Michael Kors on it."

"They'll get over it," Sam said. "Wait, what were you talking about then? Horrified about what?"

"Brittany and her friend," Mercedes said.

"Brittany?" Sam said turning them so he could see Brittany sitting on the couch holding hands with Santana while the two of them talked to Tina.

"Yeah, that is not pleasant to look at. There are just certain things I was raised to think were unacceptable and I'm staring at one. Big time," Mercedes said.

Sam abruptly stopped dancing and looked at her. "Hey, that's not cool. Brittany is my friend and I accept whomever she wants be with, male, female or vam-….va- very difficult to like male or female person.

"Sam," Mercedes said.

"If you're going to judge her because she dates girls, I don't think-"

"Sam!" Mercedes said louder. "Sam, listen to me. I don't care who she dates. Love is love. There's not enough of it in the world. Why would I put it down?"

"But you said 'raised to think certain things were unacceptable'," Sam said.

"Sam Evans, what you must think of me. I was talking about their fingernail polish- two different shades of red. They knew they were going out tonight -"

"Their fingernail polish?" Sam asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah, Opi Chick Flick Cherry and Kat Von D No Regrets do not belong so close together. Really, five seconds on the phone in advance would have solved this nailpolish nightmare." Mercedes shivered and looked at Sam.

Sam laughed and hugged her tight, they continued dancing.

* * *

**Part Four**

Shelby was pacing quickly in front of the bed as Holly sat with legs folded underneath her listening.

"And the thing is," Shelby said, "I just mentioned _Acathala_ and she looked like I'd aimed a cannon at her." Shelby glanced at Holly who sat motionless listening. "She said the best thing to do was to just get out of here and get as far away from everyone as we could," Shelby said. She stopped and kneeled in front of the bed, her hands on top of Holly's. Shelby paused, searching Holly's face for some sort of response."Acathala is the end of the world. Literally." Shelby waited for what seemed like an eternity for Holly to reply.

"Is that bad?" Holly asked before giggling and kissing Shelby's forehead.

Shelby felt stunned. "Holly! Now is not the time for you to grow a fucking sense of humor!"

Holly's smile melted. She leaned forward and placed her hands on either side of Shelby's face. "Babe, I know. I know it's bad. We knew that. Santana told us the same thing. Why are you so rattled all of a sudden?"

"Because…before I always imagined you and I fighting the good fight until The End. I knew I wanted to be with you when it came and I knew you'd be standing at the front fighting," Shelby said. Holly smiled at her. "But then I realized it doesn't have to be us. It doesn't _have_ to be you fighting until the end. We could stop it."

"Well, that's what we're trying to do isn't it? Stop Acathala?" Holly asked.

"No. I mean, yes, that's what we've been trying to do but," Shelby put her hands on Holly's still warm against her cheeks, "we could stop fighting. We could walk away from all of it and go somewhere else and live our lives in blissful ignorance just like everyone else." Shelby smiled brightly. "We could move to someplace incredibly hipster like Portland where your fear of technology might actually be cool. We could stop fighting and start living with whatever time there is left."

Holly frowned and shook her head slowly. "Shelby, I'm…I'm the Watcher. I can't leave."

"But that's the thing, Holly. You _can_ leave. There's nothing that stops you from leaving except you. You can leave," Shelby said.

"Babe, I can't. Brittany and Quinn-"

"Will get another Watcher. They will. They don't need you. Well, not you specifically. Another Watcher can help them plan the end of humanity. It doesn't have to be you."

Holly let her hands drop from Shelby's face. She shifted sideways and stood. Shelby sat on the bed in her place.

"Brittany risked her life for us. She fought Rachel and a warehouse full of demons on her own so that we would be okay. Do you know what the chances of us surviving would have been if we had actually gone in there with her? We were prepared for vampires," Holly stopped and laughed, "we were _barely_ prepared for vampires, and she took on vampires and demons and died, literally died, protecting us." Holly shook her head. "So, it does have to be me. I have to stay."

Tears welled in Shelby's eyes. "What if I can't stay? What if I don't want front row seats to watching the world end? You think it's going to be this monster battle and then it's all over, lights out? What if it's slow and painful- agonizing- and takes lifetimes? What if that's what hell on Earth is? That it _never_ ends? Is that what you want?"

"Shelby! I don't have a death wish! Of course that's not what I want. You think I'd be fighting if I knew it was certain death? I'm trying to stop it! I thought we were trying to stop it. I'm not asking you to buy a ticket for the Titanic. It's not certain death for any of us!"

"It's certain death for the Slayer. She's already died once," Shelby said.

Holly paused. She looked down at her hands and then back up at Shelby. "I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think we could win. I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think it was worth winning. I can't just run away and buy a fixed gear bike and live out the rest of my life hoping someone else will do the work for me," said Holly.

"So you won't even consider going?"

"I can't."

"You won't."

* * *

**_A/N: So...I had intended to give you a whopper of a chapter 5 but I made some big changes in what will now be chapter 6 and instead of making you wait for it...(notice I stopped just short of a RM'esque "keep watching"...)_**

**_Mass props to my readers and reviewers- I love hearing from you guys. Boredsenseless2, ducksticks, cactusgirl329 (if you're not reading Sirens, you should be), Vero, Puff614, Unicorns223 & lemonrind- thanks for always dropping me some words. Bitches love reviews. _**

**_Nayabenelux (please follow my girl on twitter- she's the best), Ms Atomic, Foss, thank you for everything._** ***muah***


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks for all the lovely PMs and reviews. So happy you guys are having fun! I certainly am. Quick little piece...a great friend who's a wizard behind the decks put together a track for part of this chapter. You'll find it if you search 'redeverandom soundcloud want take have' - it goes well with Part 2 of this chapter. ;)**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

"Thanks, babe," said Artie as he moved an earpiece from his ear and took a sip from the soda Tina was holding out towards him, careful not to let any condensation from the glass drip on his equipment.

As Artie sipped, Tina looked out from the stage of the BronzeStixx and smiled at how the crowd seemed to hang on every beat Artie crunched out from the digital decks of his DJ booth. Her eyes settled on Sam and Mercedes first. They talked and laughed as they danced, Sam spinning Mercedes around at random intervals, to the annoyance of the dancers they kept colliding with. Despite herself, Tina smiled. She scanned the crowd a little more, beaming when her eyes came to rest on Brittany and Santana.

"It's working, good job!"

Artie looked out on the crowded and nodded his head satisfied. "Yeah, they're a good crowd tonight."

"No…" Tina said

"No?"

"I mean, yes, they're a good crowd. But I meant good job with those two," Tina gestured with her head to the side of the dancefloor where Brittany and Santana were dancing. She squinted at them. "Although they're not talking and laughing like the rest of them. Oh! Maybe not such a good job!"

"Whoa! Whoa! Before you take back my hard earned praises, look at them." They both watched intently. Santana's hands rested lightly on Brittany's hips and Brittany's arms were draped across Santana's shoulders. "DJs have to read the crowd, their body language."

"What are they saying?" Tina asked.

"Just look, Brittany's thumb is stroking the back of Santana's neck. That's contentment," Artie glanced at Tina who smiled and kept watching. "Santana is completely blinded, there's no one else in the room right now but Brittany." Artie tugged at one of the straps of Tina's overalls, pulling her closer. "I know how she feels." He placed a small tender kiss on Tina's lips. As he pulled away, he saw that Tina's eyes were still closed. "Babe? You can open your eyes now."

"That's it?"

"That's it? That wasn't…"

"Yeah, it was very…I just…more," Tina said sheepishly.

Artie glanced at the floor. "Later when we have less of an audience?"

They both turned to see Sam, pointing at them and doing enthusiastic hip thrusts in their direction. Tina and Artie both grimaced in terror.

Mercedes tapped Sam on the shoulder and shook her head, hooking her finger to indicate she wanted him to follow her. Sam turned back to them and grinned, shrugging his shoulders and followed Mercedes off the dancefloor.

"The walk of tame," Artie said as he gave Tina thumbs up and put his earphones back on.

* * *

"Wow," Brittany said glancing over Santana's shoulder at Quinn who was gyrating slowly to the music sandwiched between two guys. The guys were trying awkwardly to touch Quinn but not each other. "Guess everyone could learn a thing or two from Quinn about being sexy."

Without taking her eyes off Brittany, Santana replied, "Not you. You don't need to learn a thing from anybody. You're perfect the way you are."

Brittany smiled, leaning forward to kiss Santana. She felt the tip of her nose brush against Santana's lip before their mouths connected. Brittany sighed, feeling a twinge run straight down her spine as she tasted Santana's lips. Before the sensation of Santana's mouth moving against her could overwhelm her senses, she pulled back. "Can we…go…somewhere? Anywhere?"

"Now?"

"Right now," Brittany said, nodding.

Santana smiled, taking Brittany's hand and leading them out of the door of the BronzeStixx and to her car.

* * *

Mercedes pulled to a stop at the foot of the driveway to Sam's house and turned to face Sam.

"Before you say anything," Sam began, taking both her hands in his, "I just want to say that I had a really good night with you tonight and if I'm not completely crazy, which I may be, I think you kinda had fun with me, too…"

Mercedes smiled, looking down at their hands clasped together. "Yeah…I have to admit…that despite myself…I had a lot of fun with you tonight, Sam Evans."

"And maybe we can think about being more 'out' about us?" Sam said. "I mean, I think everyone knows thanks to Principal Washington…"

Mercedes chuckled, "That was a pretty spectacular debut. But I guess it was what we needed, what I needed, to start being honest about who I am...Sam, I-"

"Oh!" Sam exclaimed letting go over her hand and opening the car door to leave. "Mom flashed the porchlights, that means I have 30 seconds to get in before she comes out and introduces herself…" Sam stepped out of the car and closed the door behind him. He leaned into the passenger side window. "And I had such a great time, I don't want anything to spoil it."

"Could we talk for just a second?" Mercedes said, leaning towards the passenger window.

Sam turned his back towards her and looked back at his house. "Nope. Nope. Here she comes." He leaned all the way into the car and kissed her. They both smiled. "Tomorrow? We'll meet at the BronzeStixx and talk and dance and maybe find a janitor's closet?" Sam said smiling and winking at her. Mercedes opened her mouth to reply but before she could, Sam tapped the top of the car and stepped back. "Tomorrow then." He turned and trotted towards his front door as it opened and Mercedes could see a figure step into the doorway. "Coming!" Sam yelled. He jogged backwards and waved at her, smiling.

Mercedes watched as Sam nearly tripped over a sprinkler before turning around and taking the stairs to the front door three at a time. He waved one last time, still beaming. Mercedes sat back in her seat, resting her head on the headrest. In her sideview mirror she could see the waxing moon bright in the sky.

"Not tomorrow, Sam."

* * *

Rachel lay on the couch, eyes closed, smiling and humming along with the pink music player whose white earbud wires tangled in the dark brown waves of her hair. Kurt could plainly hear Barbara Streisand doing an audio check with her father in the heavens. He glanced to his left to see Sugar sitting on the floor in front of the locked crates.

"And it's all going to be okay. It's all going to be okay," Sugar repeated quietly, her head and the large white bow atop her head swayed side to side. Kurt purposely shuffled his feet against the concrete floor, afraid how Sugar might react if startled. She lifted her head to smile up at him and then turned back to the crates.

"So," Kurt began in a whisper, his eyes on Rachel, "If we're not going to do anything with those crates, could we get them out of here? Dexter Morgan's basement isn't exactly the design aesthetic I'm going for here."

"Kurt," Sugar said shooting him a sideways glance, "everything is going to be okay."

"And you've deduced this how? We still only have four parts of Mr. Potato Head and two Slayers breathing down our necks. "

Sugar smiled. "I told Rachel the stars whispered to me this morning. Psst. Psst. Psst. So happy, so thirsty." Kurt frowned at her and took a step back. "A change is coming."

"Yeah, Acathala."

"Something, something, other. Something wonderful," Sugar replied smiling.

"What?"

"Youuuu'll see. We'll all see. Blood will run in the streets."

* * *

**Part Two**

Santana pulled her car to a stop in the alley behind a small two story apartment complex. The alley was dark save the light of near full moon and a single dim light bulb on the other side of the street. Brittany let go of Santana's hand long enough for Santana to slide the gear shift into first and pull the emergency brake. Santana kissed Brittany on the nose before sliding out, walking around the car, and holding the door for her.

"Will you teach me how to do that?" Brittany said stepping out into the chill of the alleyway.

"Open car doors?" Santana said, smirking as she took Brittany's hand and led her towards the apartment building. After unlocking the outer door, Santana motioned for them to descend stairs to a small hallway.

"How to drive," Brittany said as they came to a stop in front of a door with the letter 'A' on it.

"How to drive a manual?" Santana fished her key from her jacket pocket and inserted it into the lock.

"A manual or a… not…manual…how to drive in general…" Brittany shrugged as she leaned against the wall next to Santana's door.

"You didn't learn how to drive?"

"I was kinda busy burning down the gym…and Slayer training has never left much time for driver's ed…Lord Tubbington says it's easy- like falling off a bike, but…I've never actually seen him drive…or ride a bike. He just takes duckface selfies sitting behind the wheel…"

"Yeah," Santana said laughing, "I'll teach you. Whenever you're ready." Santana pushed open the door to her apartment and gestured for Brittany to enter. Brittany watched as Santana stepped to the side, sliding her red tipped index finger between her ankle and the straps on her purple heels, and depositing them next to the door.

Brittany took a step in, her eyes adjusting to the light of a lamp in the corner, she glanced around smiling as Santana walked in and placed her keys on a table and removed her jacket. "It's amazing," Brittany said as she took a step closer to a bookcase that covered an entire wall floor to ceiling and was filled with books and pieces of artwork from all over the world. Brittany ran her hands across the spines of a shelf of books, none of the words or symbols familiar to her. In the center of the room was a low slung leather couch in front of a fireplace that held candlesticks . There was a small kitchen and bar height table directly opposite the door. Pictures and sculptures from all over the world decorated the walls and corners of the room. "You've been everywhere…this is…wow."

Santana smiled, "I love to travel. I love new places, new people, new ideas. I just really can't imagine life without it. I try to bring something back to remind me of the experiences, but it's really all etched into me- part of me. These things are just pretty to look at." Santana chuckled and gestured towards the couch. "Travel is the only thing positive about being…this way….I've had more than 200 years on this marble. I couldn't stay in Valencia all my life could I?"

"The mall is really nice though," Brittany said smiling and moving to sit on the couch. "Where's your…coffin?" Santana lit the candles in the fireplace and joined her.

Santana laughed. "I don't actually sleep in a coffin," Santana nodded her head towards a room in the back corner where Brittany could see what looked like a normal bed. "A basement apartment with no windows and good locks does the job well enough. Are you disappointed?"

"No, I'm kinda relieved, I didn't think a coffin would be big enough for us both to fit in there…" Brittany stopped and blushed. "Not that I'm assuming anything…"

They spoke at once.

"I have something for you."

"I want to give you a present."

They both laughed.

Santana smiled, sitting down next to Brittany, leaned back against the arm of the couch looked at her. "You go first."

Brittany handed Santana a small silver mp3 player with a screen. Santana looked down at it and back up at Brittany, puzzled.

"Your mp3 player?"

"Yeah, it's my mp3 player but…," Brittany reached for the device, turned it on, "it's what you said you missed… and I just thought…I could get it for you…or as close as I can get you." Santana tilted her head and stared at Brittany unsure what to think.

"Wait," Brittany said jumping up from the couch, "can I turn off the light?" Santana nodded, turning the mp3 player over in her hand watching as Brittany turned off the lamp leaving the four flickering candles in the fireplace as the only pale light in the windowless apartment.

Brittany returned to the couch and held out her hand for Santana to give back the mp3 player. She leaned into Santana's shoulder, Santana wrapped her arm around her, and she tapped play. The screen filled with the shaky image of Brittany sitting in a lawn chair in her backyard. On the screen she blew a kiss and pointed the camera away from her and towards a sky as dark as the apartment in which they were sitting.

"Brittany? I don't-"

"Keep watching," Brittany said, winking at her. They sat in silence as the screen showed Brittany's camera scanning the sky. Then a small orange finger of light appeared on the screen. "I know, it's just video. But I got Tina to check it out for me and short of her whipping up some special plexi-…lexi-….UV…ABC glass..." Santana looked at her frowning and leaned forward slowly to see the screen again. "The sunrise. You said that's what you missed most about being human." Santana smiled and looked back at the screen, Brittany reached to hold her hand and with her other hand started the video again. The screen and the room slowly filled with orange light and the sun rose over the trees in Brittany's backyard. At the end of filming the sunrise, Brittany had turned the camera back to herself and blown another kiss.

"There's two weeks of sunrises there-," Brittany said, running her thumb across the screen and scrolling through thumbnails of bright orange suns, "- from my house, the roof of the school, the cemetery, the beach. Wherever I could sneak out to in time." Brittany hit play on another video and handed the mp3 player to Santana.

"It's been so long since I've watched a sunrise, let alone watched a sunrise with someone." Her face glowed in the reflected light of the next sunrise. Santana leaned back on the couch, as Brittany rested her head on her shoulder, both watching the screen. After another sunset ended, Santana wiggled her shoulder so that Brittany would lift her head.

"Thank you," said Santana, "that was very…thank you."

"You liked it?" Brittany said smiling.

"I loved it. " Santana leaned towards Brittany, kissing her slowly. "I love you," Santana said.

"I love you, Santana," said Brittany smiling.

Santana's hands cupped her face, her fingers behind her ears, drawing her closer, her lips dragging slowly across Brittany's lower lip. Brittany closed her eyes, the sensation humming down her spine.

After a few seconds, or minutes, Brittany paused, pulling back. Santana looked at her, waiting. Brittany stood up and slid off her shoes. She felt Santana's eyes watching her every movement. Barefoot, the candles of the fireplace providing the only light, she stood looking down at Santana on the couch. Brittany's eyes shifted back and forth from Santana's eyes to her lips, pausing only briefly before leaning down to taste her lips again. Santana's fingers tugged at Brittany's sweater, pulling her closer. Brittany complied and straddled Santana's legs on the couch, her skirt riding higher.

As they kissed, Santana's hands glided up Brittany's legs, kneading as she went. She squeezed Brittany's ass and then let her hands settle on the base of Brittany's spine. Her backless sweater offered no insulation from the electric feeling of Santana's fingers tracing the curvature of her spine. Brittany shuddered and heard herself moan as she leaned into Santana, hands tangling in her raven hair.

"Breathe!" Brittany said, regretfully pulling away from Santana's mouth.

"Sorry," Santana said smiling.

"I just need…," Brittany said breathing deeply. She caught her breath and smiled down at Santana, her hair falling against both their faces.

Santana's hands reached the edge of Brittany's sweater and she stopped, looking at her. "Tell me to wait?"

Brittany held Santana's gaze and shrugged off the sweater allowing it to puddle around her waist, her bare shoulders gleaming in the light from the candles. "We've waited forever."

Santana broke eye contact and Brittany's breath escaped in a rush as she felt Santana's unhurried gaze on her bare upper body. Santana's lips parted and she leaned forward, Brittany heard herself whimper as Santana simultaneously put her mouth on the tender patch of skin behind her ear and her hands on Brittany's breast. Brittany's nipple responded instantly, pressing hard and urgent against Santana's palms. Santana's hands moved and Brittany frowned protest until she felt them grip her shoulders and Santana's mouth begin to trail kisses down her neck, across her collarbone and onto the firm mounds of her breasts.

She moaned, throwing her head back, and felt her body arching forward to make more contact with Santana's mouth. She held Santana's head to her. Santana's hands seemingly touched her everywhere and she realized as her eyes regained focus on the ceiling that she was grinding insistently against her. The throbbing wetness between her legs was becoming impossible for either of them to ignore.

Santana's eyes found Brittany's as her mouth let loose of a pink nipple with a pop. Santana settled her hands on Brittany's waist and pushed her backward, forcing Brittany to stand. Their eyes never strayed. Santana's mouth gave more attention to her nipples and then began to move downwards across the outside of her breast. Her teeth nipped at the side of her breasts and the ribs underneath, Brittany gasping at each new contact. Her mouth found the skin under her breasts and at first tenderly and then more urgently dined there. Brittany let out a half moan, half growl in response, her hands grasping at Santana's shoulders to maintain her balance on her feet.

Brittany felt Santana's hands on the buttons of her skirt. She looked down to see Santana's eyes watching her intently, kisses landing slowly, torturously one by one down her stomach. Every sweep of her tongue across Brittany's torso sent a wildfire of heat coursing through her veins. As her skirt fell away, Brittany groaned and pulled Santana to standing in front of her. She attacked her mouth, biting, sucking and kissing her demandingly. Brittany's hands found Santana's breasts and she was overwhelmed with the urge to get her out of her dress.

Tugging first upward and then downward on Santana's tight purple dress, she exclaimed, "Fuck. How does this work?"

Santana turned her back to Brittany and moved her hair to the side to reveal a button. Brittany sighed and quickly undid the button, and pulled the dress over her head, Santana wriggling slightly to help her. When the dress was deposited on the floor, Brittany glanced up and saw Santana's back lit by the candles behind them. Her mouth fell open as her eyes traced an elaborate black tattoo that began at Santana's hips; the tendrils of ink wove their way up her spine, threaded between her ribs and across her shoulder blades. As Santana moved the ink seemed to move with her, alive.

Brittany attached her mouth to the base of Santana's spine where the design seemed to originate and heard a puff of air escape Santana's lips above her as her hand reached to grasp the back of Brittany's head. With some unclear desperation, Brittany tried to kiss and lick every stroke of ink across Santana's back, hearing gasps from above as she did so. Traveling with her mouth up to Santana's shoulders, she slowly turned Santana around to face her and was caught off guard by the sight of her naked body in the candlelight.

Santana lifted Brittany's chin with her finger and claimed her mouth once again. Brittany felt her mind reel as Santana's tongue curled against the roof of her mouth. Brittany gasped, "I can't stand."

Santana wordlessly lowered them to the rug in front of the fireplace, pausing only seconds to admire the sight of Brittany's long lean body laid out before her. Santana leaned to kiss her again and her hands trailed downward across Brittany's stomach to the pulse between her legs. Santana's eyes didn't leave Brittany's as her teeth tugged at her lips. The first contact between Santana's fingers and her slick center forced an aching sigh from Brittany's lips. Each stroke felt like thunder and Brittany tried her best to maintain the eye contact that was making the sensation between her legs feel magnified a million times over.

Brittany frowned as the edges of her reality began to unravel. She grasped at the back of Santana's neck and tried to speak. Before the words could form, she felt her climax zip up her spine like a clap of lighting in the sky, her back arching violently, gasping, moaning, feeling herself separating from her body for a blissful moment.

She clung to Santana, panting, their eyes still locked, until she found herself again. She shuddered and closed her eyes. She felt Santana's lips press against hers and she sighed. "I love you."

Santana looked down at her smiling. "Show me."

Brittany's eye shot open and she stared at Santana. "What?"

"Show me…but this time on the bed. I'm afraid you're going to get a splinter in your ass if we slide off this rug any further." They both looked down and saw that only their shoulders were still on the rug.

Brittany laughed and kissed her. They both stood, kissing and Brittany lifted her in her arms. She pulled Santana's legs up and around her waist.

"I love you," Santana said, kissing Brittany deeply.

Brittany smiled and started to walk quickly towards the bedroom, both of them laughing hysterically as they nearly tripped on the rug.

* * *

**Part Three**

They lay back in bed, panting, sated and slick with sweat. Brittany threw an arm and leg over Santana and sleepily kissed her jawline. Her teeth caught the lobe of Santana's ear and when she saw Santana's reaction, she became more intent on pursuing this line of kissing.

Santana shrugged her shoulder. "Brittany."

Brittany kept pulling with her teeth. She shifted slightly, covering more of Santana's body with hers.

"Brittany."

Brittany sighed. "You're the immortal one, I'm supposed to run out of gas way before you are…" As she spoke, from the corner of her eye she caught sight of something shiny in Santana's hand. She turned her head and her eyes focused on a silver ring with delicate looking flowers engraved on it. Her mind flashed through her dream where she'd first seen the flowers and had tried to kill Santana to the prophecy- "_The Dark One shall be killed by The Slayer_". Brittany blinked and focused on Santana who was moving to sit up in bed.

"According to Puerto Rican wedding customs, the bride's bouquet is made of three different kinds of flowers- amapolas, flamboyáns, and margaritas," Santana said as she pointed to each of the flowers on the ring. "I know this may seem like I'm jumping the gun, but…I've been waiting for you, all of my life." She laughed, "And it's been a very long life."

Brittany studied her face as she spoke.

"But I know what I feel and when I'm with you, there's nothing and no one else but you."

"Santana, I-"

"I'm not asking you to promise me anything. I'm promising you something. I'll do everything I can to make sure that everyday we're together that you never doubt for a second how much I love you, how utterly in love with you I am and how much you mean to-"

Brittany thrust her head forward, kissing Santana. Brittany wrapped her arms around her and pulled her back over atop her. When Brittany paused to breath, Santana asked, "Is that yes? You'll wear it?"

Brittany smiled and nodded her head. Santana grinned and sat up straddling Brittany who was still lying on her back beneath her. Brittany held out her left hand, her eyes welling with tears as she watched Santana slide the ring on her finger. Santana smiled down at her and they both grinned as Santana leaned in to kiss her again.

"Ah!" Santana said, wincing.

"What? Are my lips chapped?"

"No," Santana chuckled, giving her another peck on the lips and wincing yet again.

"What is it?" Brittany sat up, concern on her face.

"I don't know. Maybe I'm just hungry."

Brittany moved, "Do you want me to get you something? I'm kinda hungry, too."

Santana stopped her. "Brittany, my fridge doesn't have food…"

"What does it have?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth she realized what she was saying. "Oh…yeah… I don't mind getting you something from the fridge and I can run out and grab something for me and bring it back…"

Santana slid out of bed and was holding her hand on her side, frowning. "How about this, you jump in the shower and I'll run to the store so we can both have something to eat."

"You sure? 'Cause I could come with you…"

Santana leaned across the bed and kissed her. "I got this. Grab a shower. I'll hurry and be back in time to join you."

Brittany smiled and jumped off the other side of the bed, heading towards the small bathroom.

Santana smiled until Brittany was out of the room and then doubled over, holding her stomach. She grabbed her pair of leather pants from the arm of a chair in the corner of her bedroom and tugged them on without bothering to put on anything else in between. She grabbed a white fitted button up and slid it on. She half stumbled out into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Inside there were several rows of clear plastic bags filled with blood. Santana grabbed one and leaned over the sink, greedily ripping the bag open and downing the contents. A thin rivulet of dark red blood snaked it's way from the corner of her lips and down her neck. A bright red spot appeared on her chest, staining her white shirt.

Santana paused waiting for the blood to hit her system and cause the sharp ache in her stomach to end. She took a deep breath and stood up straight. She shook her head. "That was weird." She took a step towards the door of her apartment and fell hard to the floor. She groaned and pulled herself to her feet. Glancing at the bathroom door she ran out of the apartment barefoot and stumbled into the alleyway. Tripping, she landed on her stomach and groaned loudly as she rolled over, her shirt covered in street grime. She felt a sizzling hot pain in her stomach and screamed clutching her middle.

At the other end of the alleyway, a woman walking past heard the scream. She removed the cigarette from her mouth, "What the hell?" She squinted down the alleyway and saw what looked like someone rolling in the street. Slowly, she stepped closer. In the flickering light of a single yellow bulb she could make out a dark haired woman laying on her back in the street. Her shirt dirtied and bloodied. The woman looked in all directions around and not sensing any danger ran towards Santana.

"Are you okay?" the woman said kneeling a bit away from Santana and reaching her hand out to touch her shoulder. Santana said nothing and did not move. "Are you okay?" The woman shook Santana's shoulder.

Santana coughed and opened her eyes. Looking at the woman she smiled and started laughing. Her chuckle grew to a loud guffaw that echoed in the alleyway. The woman frowned. "Are you feeling yourself?" Santana didn't reply but kept laughing. The woman stood up. "Whatever." She turned her back to walk away, her cigarette back at her lips. After a few steps, the woman heard the laughter stop. She spun around to look at Santana but she was gone. The woman looked side to side and then shrugging, turned to exit the alleyway.

"Hola!" Santana said appearing in front of the woman, smiling, her yellow eyes glowing even in the darkness of the alley.

The woman startled. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Her cigarette wobbled in her mouth.

Santana turned her head side to side, audibly cracking her neck. She smiled and before the woman had a chance to register what was happening, she had embraced her and took a large bite out of the side of her neck. The woman struggled, but Santana held her tighter, squeezing and sucking the life from her. After a few moments, Santana released the woman and her body slumped to the ground. Santana opened her mouth and released a plume of smoke from the cigarette she'd caught just before it hit the ground.

"Thanks for you help, mami! I've never felt better!" She chuckled to herself and took another drag on the cigarette. Looking down at her shirt she frowned. Then she looked at her pants. "Leather, nice." Slipping a thumb between the waist of her pants and her skin she pulled outward to see into her pants. "Commando! Even better!"

* * *

**_A/N: Thanks again for all your support. The road is about to get a little bumpy...buckle up._**

**_Thanks to Foss for reading, Nayabenelux for always supporting my writing, Rizz for the lovely track, and Ms Atomic for beta reading on top of all the REAL stuff in her life._**


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